New bed announcement welcomed by Saolta University Healthcare Group and Hospital Management

Saolta University Healthcare Group welcome the Government’s commitment to 501 new acute inpatient beds in the HSE West and North West region. This ambitious plan will develop adult acute inpatient beds in all our hospitals and ensure balanced regional bed capacity.

Mayo University Hospital is set to receive 96 new beds as part of the plan over the course of the next seven years. The development of a new ward block is fundamental to address the demands for MUH in providing care for the patients and communities it serves. The hospital is working with HSE Estates on a preliminary spatial plan to identify a possible location for the ward block.

Letterkenny University Hospital has welcomed the announcement of 72 new beds for the hospital and 20 new beds are also welcomed by Roscommon University Hospital which will be provided between 2029 and 2031.

In Portiuncula University Hospital 16 new beds will be delivered over the course of the next four years. 10 of the new beds are already committed to and will open later this year in tandem with the 50 bedded Ward block. These will be enhanced by a further six new beds which will be provided between 2024 and 2028.

In Sligo University Hospital the new beds include 26 medical beds at a refurbished ward at St John’s which will be under SUH governance, the building of a 42 bed ward block and a further bed already committed to. The design team has been appointed for the St John’s refurbishment works and is now awaiting approval to proceed with upgrading works. The main contractor for the ward block works is expected to proceed to site in Q3 of this year.

The announcement of 228 new beds for the Galway University Hospitals will play a significant role in the overall infrastructure plans. The new beds will be provided in separate phases with GUH set to benefit from 198 beds between 2024 and 2028 with a further 30 coming on stream between 2029 and 2031.

“We welcome the commitment to enhancing infrastructure and capacity that we know we badly need in our region. This investment will help address the Urgent and Emergency Care pressures and support a regional balance of capacity provision,” said Ann Cosgrove, Interim CEO of the Saolta University Health Care Group. “These new beds will greatly benefit our local communities and we look forward to progressing these plans as quickly as possible,” she added.