Hospital extension for June

THE new extension to the Emergency Department at Wexford General Hospital is due to be open in June. Minister James Browne received confirmation last week from the Ireland East Hospital Group that the new extension would be ‘ready for occupation towards the end of Quarter 2, 2021’.

The project has been progressing rapidly since plans were first lodged back in November, in the face of the pandemic and increasing pressure around capacity at the hospital. Although the Emergency Department in its current guise was only opened back in 2014, increasing traffic through the hospital has meant that capacity remained an issue, even before Covid-19.

With some consultants saying that there was an urgent and pressing need to look at the development of Wexford General, there has been concerns that the new extension doesn’t go far enough.

‘Whether even more capacity will be needed, we’ll have to see,’ Minister Browne said. ‘I suppose I’d have to take the word of the consultants on that one. At this stage though, this is a substantial expansion and it does show a commitment to Wexford. If it needs further investment, I will continue to work and lobby theHSE for this.’

The new extension is to provide 5 new beds in rooms where patients can be separated from others, along with a treatment room, a minor procedures room, toilet facilities and a drug prep area. It will significantly bolster the 12 rooms currently available in the Emergency Department.

‘I think this is a very welcome development,’ Minister Browne said. ‘It shows that vital commitment to Wexford and it’s great to see everyone across the political divide has fought to keep facilities here in Wexford. It’s a top class hospital and the significant expansion of the Emergency Department secures it for decades to come. In the past there were often concerns over whether we would lose our Emergency Department. This shows that the HSE is committed to keeping it and so am I.’