*Ennis Hospital.
SENIOR MANAGEMENT of UL Hospitals Group have reiterated that upgrading Ennis Hospital to a model three hospital is not in their plans.
In April 2019 Colette Cowan and Paul Burke of the UL Hospitals Group told The Clare Echo that upgrading Ennis to a model three hospital was “not safe”. Paul Reid during his final visit to Ennis Hospital as HSE CEO in July 2022 also ruled an upgrade of Ennis to a model three hospital.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (FG) speaking at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) in February of this year, ruled out a reopening of the emergency departments in Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s Hospitals.
On Monday, Cllr Pat Daly (FF) appealed to management of UL Hospitals Group to alter their approach. He said that he has been “a regular patient” at UHL in recent months, “once you get into the system it is as good a hospital as you can get in this country”.
When it comes to its emergency department, UHL is not working, the Mayor of the Ennis Municipal District maintained. “The problem is we’ve no A&E in this county, the current A&E is not working. There is a new private hospital to be built in Limerick, maybe that will have to deal with just private patients and leave UHL to the public. I would like to see Ennis as model three hospital”.
Chief Clinical Director at UL Hospitals Group, Prof Brian Lenehan responded, “Ennis is classified as a model two hospital, it cannot have an A&E but it does have functioning local injury unit and medical assessment unit which is working well, I don’t see an A&E reopening in Ennis”. He said an upgrade to model three was not on the national framework of what was planned.
