NEW €8M CARE CENTRE OPENS
WEXFORD’S new €8m primary care centre on Grogan’s Road has opened as preparations are made for the demolition of the existing clinic to make way for a 120-space car park.
Last week, staff began moving into the the new state-of-theart building, which took just under two years to construct.
The old clinic, dating to the mid-1950s, is being cleared of fittings and contents ahead of its demolition.
WEXFORD’S newly-built €8 million primary care centre in Grogan’s Road opened to the public last week ahead of the planning demolition of the existing clinic later this week to make way for a 120-space car park.
The construction of the car park should take three months and the new care centre is expected to be fully operational when that work is completed.
Speech therapy, dental and Caredoc facilies are among the services which have moved into the new state-of-the-art building which extends to 3,715 square metres and was built adjacent to the old clinic which dates back to the mid-1950’s.
All existing services provided by the clinic will be re-located in the new centre along with additional facilities to provide an integrated and co-ordinated primary care service at one single location, including GP’s, public health nurses, occupational therapists and physiotherapists.
Some of the HSE staff currently working in George’s Street in Wexford are also moving to the new building.
‘There will be some restrictions to car parking during this phase of construction work which is expected to take approximately 12 weeks to fully complete.’, said a HSE spokesman.
‘It is planned for the new centre to be fully operational thereafter’, he added.
‘Some staff have moved into the new primary care centre in Wexford and some services have commenced from their new delivery location’, he added
Wexford is one of four new primary care centres developed through the Public Private Partnership process which are nearing completion in the south east. The others are in St. Oteran’s Hospital, Waterford; St. Brigid’s Hospital in Carrickon-Suir and the Community Hospital in Dungarvan, County Waterford.
Another seven Primary Care Centres are already operational in the region – in Gorey, Callan, Carlow; Kilkenny; Tipperary Town, Tramore, and Waterford Cit.
The centres are designed to complement community healthcare services already being delivered in the localities.
A number of multi-disciplinary rooms will be available in the new clinic to be booked by visiting health professionals. The centre will be open at least five days a week with extra hours at weekends and evenings for some services.
An Area Medical Officer will be based in the building along with GP and community teams, the Caredoc Service, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, social work, speech and language therapy, home help, addiction services, dental services, nutritional and dietician services, psychology and counselling services, audiology and opthalmology, chiropody, podiatry, early intervention and school age services.
The main reception area was designed to increase seating for waiting patients and clients and to provide disabled access and an entrance to a secure outdoor area for children. The psychology service has been located to ensure privacy for patients.
Building work on the Wexford centre began in June 2016 with loan funding assistance from the European Investment Bank under the European Fund for Strategic Investments for a Public Private Partnership (PPP) stimulus package aimed at delivering critical social and economic infrastructure.