This article is from page 15 of the 2006-03-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
CAHERCALLA Community Hospital and Hospice has secured planning permission for a €2.3 million upgrade of its hospital in Ennis.
If funding could be secured, it would mean 10 extra hospice beds and 10 nursing home beds at the 10year-old facility.
The hospital will now look to the statutory agencies including the Health Service Executive (HSE) to help fund the expansion of the services provided at Cahercalla, according to the Chairman of the Directors of the hospital, Fr Harry Bohan.
“Cahercalla provides an invaluable service to the community and we would like the State to look at ways it can help us to fund the new hospice,” said Fr Bohan.
“The population is growing at a huge rate and unfortunately terminal illness has taken some grip in the community. We are all the time looking at ways to expand the facility.
He said that he expected work to commence on the project during the year.
Fr Bohan added that Cahercalla was very unique in that it provided three different services under the one roof: nursing home, day surgery unit and a seven bed hospice.
He said that the ground floor of the new unit would be totally dedicated to hospice care and would consist of 10 large private ensuite bedrooms, a medical room, with a medical Jacuzzi bath where the patient could receive treatment, a sitting room and sleeping facilities for relatives who wanted to be near their relative, a number of rooms for patient activities such as music, reading, painting etc., and a conservatory overlooking the gardens.
Profits at the community-owned hospital dropped dramatically last year in the face of rising costs.
According to accounts recently returned to the Companies Office, Cahercalla recorded a profit of €50,147 last year, in contrast to the €200,533 profit achieved in 2003.
However, the facility’s financial position has dramatically improved in recent years with its accumulated debt being reduced from €888,391 in 2002 to the 2004 figure of €536,630. Cahercalla has a capital reserve of €2.539 million and total appeal fund contributions of €2.125 million.
This has left a positive balance sheet balance of €4.127 million. The accounts show that the hospital’s net income was marginally down from €1.056 million to €1.051 million last year.