Noeleen Moran. Photograph: Martin Molloy
A KEY member of the Mid-West Hospital Campaign has said the decision of the UL Hospitals Group CEO to go on temporary leave is “unsurprising”.
On Friday last it emerged that the Chief Executive of UL Hospitals Group, Prof Colette Cowan had gone on temporary leave.
Staff were informed of the CEO’s departure during a week where there was further record breaking overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick.
Senior staff at UHL received an email last Friday where they were informed that Colette Cowan, CEO of UL Hospitals Group is on “leave period” but the correspondence did not specify why and for how long.
Ballyvaughan native, Noeleen Moran who is one of the leading figures with the Mid-West Hospital campaign said the move was not surprising. She told The Clare Echo, “As CEO it was Prof Collette Cowan’s duty to find solutions and to make the hospital system work. It has been evident for some time that expecting just one hospital to support the demand of the entire population of the Midwest was unworkable. Ms Cowan’s temporary leave of absence is unsurprising.
“Nobody can stand over the level of overcrowding at UHL. Those in management of the healthcare service both within the political realm and within the HSE need to be held to account for the state that it is in. Patients’ lives are being put at risk, unnecessary deaths are occurring. This is completely unacceptable and it must end. The current healthcare policy is failing the people of the Mid-West, it’s time for a complete overhaul of how the hospital system is managed in the Mid-West. It’s time now to look again at a model 3 hospital for the region”.
Overcrowding at UHL hit record highs on two occasions last week with figures of 150 on Wednesday and 138 on Tuesday.
Sonya Cotter who has worked in the HSE’s Special Delivery Unit is to become acting CEO from Wednesday. Prof Cowan remained in her role as recently as Tuesday of last week, the CEO does not work on site at UHL with management’s offices located in an industrial estate in Raheen.
Prior to Cowan’s temporary leave, Friends of Ennis Hospital had called on Clare’s Oireachtas members to summon UHL management before the Dáil to “explain why the increase in staffing has not resulted in a decrease in trolleys. We further call upon you to put a motion of no confidence in hospital management before the Dáil”.
A motion seeking the upgrade of Ennis Hospital to a model three hospital has also been sought by the Friends of Ennis Hospital.
