Cork medical services group expands to meet demand

Ed Donovan's AMS has experienced a big increase in its services to the corporate sector

Professor Des Murphy with Professor Carl Vaughan, AMS chief executive Ed Donovan and Dr Ronan Curtin.

Advanced Medical Services Group has further expanded its services, with the launch of a new consultant-led diagnostics centre, located close to the newly developed Marina Park and Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork City.

Founded in 2010 by CEO Ed Donovan, AMS provides medical services, including health screening, at-home health checks and vaccinations to corporates, hospitals, education institutions, sporting organisations and SMEs. 

The company has continued to add to its portfolio of services with occupational health software solutions added last year, and now provides access to electrocardiograms, echocardiograms and pulmonary function tests.

“We have seen a significant increase in demand for our services over the past number of years,” Mr Donovan said. 

I believe covid was a good reminder to all of us how important our health is and the importance of getting checked out.” 

He added the company had also experienced a big increase in its services to the corporate sector as companies see the benefits of providing health and wellness services for their employees. 

“Having a healthy workforce is good business, and AMS is able to provide a range of services both onsite and direct to the home to those home-based. 

"On the diagnostic side, we have experienced big demand for testing as many people had held off on getting checked out or going to their doctor during the pandemic.” 

In terms of how AMS adapted to the change brought about by the pandemic, Mr Donovan underlined that AMS was fortunate in having invested significantly in its own software prior to covid: 

“This allowed us to quickly move into offering new services such as covid-19 testing as well as offering home-based health checks. The home-based health checks were part of our strategic plan but covid definitely accelerated our development of this service.” 

The pandemic highlighted the demand for diagnostic tests such as echocardiograms and pulmonary function testing. 

“In conjunction with three hospital consultants, we decided to invest and establish an outpatient diagnostic centre to address the unmet demand for these critical tests.”

Given Cork's population continues to increase annually, AMS plans on further expansion in the years ahead. 

“The demand for healthcare services is only going one way. As people get older, they will need more healthcare, putting pressure on hospitals and GPs. 

We can see that the healthcare system is under considerable strain already and we plan to help take pressure off the system by offering direct access diagnostics and other medical solutions that can help keep patients out of the hospital setting. 

"Our strategic plan incorporates an expansion of our range of diagnostic testing over the coming years. We are excited to see phase one of this plan being implemented with the opening of our first diagnostic centre in March, with the next phase being planned to further expand the range of diagnostic and medical services in the near future. 

"In addition to this, we are also expanding our occupational health software and health screening services.”

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