Love, peace & dignity
ONLY for a discreet stand displaying books on bereavement and how to talk to children about cancer, the foyer of St Patrick’s Hospital/Marymount Hospice looks more like a hotel than a medical centre. It’s bright and airy and furnished with orange and scarlet sofas. Down the stairs to the basement, trees have been potted in plant boxes near a large seating area and a welcoming cafe looks out onto a patio with garden furniture.
It is the first anniversary of the opening of the new state-of-the-art building in Curraheen on Cork city’s western outskirts. Before the hospital and hospice moved to this 11-acre site from its previous location at Wellington Road, there was very little privacy for patients and their families. Set up by the Sisters of Charity 142 years ago, St Patrick’s Hospital/Marymount was a typical 1870s building, says CEO of the centre, Kevin O’Dwyer.
