This article is from page 9 of the 2006-09-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 9 JPG
THE Health Service Executive MidWestern Area has confirmed that there are no plans to proceed with a controversial renaming of three Limerick City hospitals.
It was feared that the move would serve to disenfranchise Ennis and Nenagh General Hospitals. However, a HSE spokesperson has stated that, “There are currently no plans to proceed with the name change at present.”
Early last year, it was announced that three Limerick facilities – the Mid Western Regional Hospital, the Mid Western Regional Maternity Hospital and the Mid Western Regional Orthopaedic Hospital in Croom – would be renamed University Hospital Limerick. Some months beforehand, the facilities had been tagged under the umbrella term, ‘Mid Western Regional’.
So opposed were staff, management, politicians and hospital groups to the proposed renaming to University Hospital, that the HSE’s Programme Manager for Acute Hospital Services offered to resign from two key HSE committees in protest.
North Clare Councillor and Ennis hospital Committee member, Joe Arkins (FG), has welcomed the decision of the HSE not to proceed with the name changes. Councillor Arkins had raised serious concerns regarding the matter when it first arose over 12 months ago.
“The hospitals at Ennis and Nenagh would have been out on limb completely and further relegated for training purposes if the singular link with the Limerick hospitals and UL had gone ahead.
“It is time to end the smoke and mirrors act, and do something tangible about moving forward the refurbishment of Ennis General, which is drastically overdue,” he said.