Medical centre to create 210 jobs

IN a major jobs boost for Cork city, 210 jobs are to be created over the next six weeks in the construction of the new Cork Medical Centre.

John Cleary Developments have appointed the PM Group and Devereux Architects as the mechanical and electrical consultants and internal architects for the €28 million fit-out, with a completion date scheduled for April 19, 2010.

According to John Cleary, 60 specialist sub-contractors will be employed from the start, with more to follow shortly afterwards. “We would anticipate at least 150 more people working on the site, as we have a very tight programme to meet for the April deadline. These are not jobs in the distant future. They’ll be working here in the next four to six weeks.”

He added that the Sheehan medical group have also begun their recruitment drive and have started appointing key personnel for the 500 required hospital staff.

James Sheehan of Sheehan Medical said: “With less than nine months to go before the Cork Medical Centre treats its first patient, these appointments are vital for meeting our deadlines.”

The Cork Medical Centre will pioneer some of the most advanced energy controls in the country, with a geothermal energy system regulating the hospital’s climate control.

The PM Group will assume responsibility for bringing the Cork Medical Centre to the forefront of energy-efficient technology, as the only Irish hospital to feature such methods for controlling the temperature of patients’ bedrooms.

With the capacity to treat over 39,000 patients a year, the hospital will contain four operating theatres using “next generation” IT systems.

The PM Group, with offices in Mahon, Cork, have extensive international experience in biopharmaceutical, healthcare and environmental capital projects.

Some of their most recent Irish projects include the planned National Paediatric Hospital development in Dublin and Centocor Biologics in Cork, which won the 2009 ISPE Facility of the Year award for sustainability.