This article is from page 10 of the 2014-04-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 10 JPG
RAHEEN Hospital Support Group said it was satisfied that the 28 beds in the local community hospital would be upgraded to HIQA standards within 18 months.
Following years of requests and a Dáil motion on the issue, senior management from the HSE finally sat down with the group yesterday (Monday) to outline its plans to have the hospital HIQA compliant before the end of next year.
The first phase of the plan will see the upgrade of the current beds, which will entail adding an extension and converting the rooms from fivebed wards to single ensuite rooms.
William McLysaght from the Raheen Hospital Support Group said the meeting was positive and “the HSE were very positive everything was going to be done”.
“Once the architect has drawn up the plans local fundraising will take place for a community donation to the project,” he said.
The money raised by the community will fund an identifiable tangible part of the work.
“We were disappointed it [the meeting] had taken so long but hope now it will be a positive outlook for the hospital,” he said. Work is almost completed in upgrading projects to bring Regina House in Kilrush and Ennistymon Community Hospital to HIQA standards.