RAHEEN COMMUNITY HOSPITAL’s new ward extension is to be fully operational by the end of June, the HSE has confirmed.
Construction is ongoing on the €2m ward extension at Raheen Community Hospital in East Clare. Work includes the provision of seven long-stay replacement beds and will be completed in April, in line with the target set of Q2 2022.
Once construction is complete, the ward will be equipped and an opening of June will then open by the end of June.
Scariff native, Michael McNamara TD (IND) stated, “The HSE has informed me that following equipping and the registration of beds by the Health Information & Quality Authority (HIQA), the ward extension will become fully operational. It is anticipated that the facility will open by the end of June”.
Deputy McNamara said the news will be very much welcomed by the people of East Clare who have “battled hard for investment” in the small community hospital.
“When I was first elected as a TD in 2011, there was a proposal to close smaller community hospitals, such as Raheen,” he recalled. “Upgrade works were undertaken during this period at Kilrush and Ennistymon community hospitals, but little progress was being made in Raheen. After a focus was brought to this vital community resource by the visit of the then Junior Health Ministers, Alex White and Kathleen Lynch, which I initiated, the HSE implemented substantial capital investment plans in the intervening years. I now look forward to the opening of the new extension”.
