Hospital needs 200 more staff to open up €30m new extension
THE new €30m extension at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital is expected to be completed by the end of the year and will create 200 jobs, it has been revealed.
The five story extension currently under construction will add 9,000 square metres of much needed extra space at the overcrowded hospital.
A spokesperson for the HSE said that it is anticipated that once fully functional the new devleopment will require approximately 200 staff, however they said the new building will open in phases with just one ward opening by the end of 2017.
Work on the development has taken approximately two years and the overall cost once completed is expected to be in excess of €30 million.
The Phase 2 development, which is currently under construction by GemElliott Construction, Co Longford, includes an A&E extension on the ground floor, three ward floors with a total of 81 beds and a theatre suite comprising of five operating rooms.
The new building is currently under construction adjacent to the existing emergency department block.
The project consists of the construction of a new shell and core building of five storeys at ground, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors.
It also involves the partial fit-out of a number of floors, staircase access and lift core extension and new link corridors to access the existing hospital at the upper floors. The services are contained at roof level on the fifth floor.
Initially however only a partial fit out is proposed comprising two ward floors and part of the ground floor.
There is an area of alteration to the existing hospital of approx 580 sq meters.
Mechanical services provided include soils and waste, water services, air conditioning and ventilation, heating services with boiler room, building management system, natural gas installation, vacuum, oxygen and medical gas services. A new generator for the hospital will also be added. Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital provides acute medical and surgical services as well as maternity services to the catchment area of Louth, Meath and the surrounding hinterland including parts of north county Dublin.
The main Emergency Department for Louth Meath Hospital Group is located at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. It is supported by an Acute Medical Assessment Unit (AMAU), which provides immediate and early specialist management of adult medical patients and by a Minor Injuries Unit in Louth County Hospital Dundalk and the Emergency Department in Our Lady’s Hospital Navan.