Volunteers turn first divot on cancer unit

TIGER Woods chipped in and JP McManus drove the project along, helping to give cancer patients in the mid-west a shot at survival and a new life.

The first divot was turned on the site of an €8 million radiotherapy unit in the grounds of the Mid Western Regional Hospital by Junior Health Minister Tim O’Malley yesterday.

Woods played in the JP McManus Golf Classic at Limerick Golf club in 2000, which raised 2m for the new unit.

Louis Creaven, chairman of the Mid-West Hospital Development Trust, which is funding the project, said at yesterday’s ceremony: “This is a very proud day for Limerick and the mid-west. And we want to let people know that everybody will have access to it as it will be open to public and private patients.”

Some 60% of the 1,500 mid-west patients diagnosed with cancer yearly require radiotherapy treatment. However, there is only a 50% uptake of treatment, because patients have to travel to Cork or Dublin.

When the Department of Health by-passed Limerick for a new radiotherapy unit, the Mid-West Hospital Development Trust stepped in and decided to go it alone with voluntary money and the Mater Private Hospital, which agreed to staff and run the unit.

When it is in operation in 2005, the new radiotherapy unit will treat 500 public and private patients a year and will cost €1.6m a year to run. It will eventually have a staff of 24.

The Mid-West Hospital Development Trust was established in 1987 by a group of well known Limerick businessmen and local doctors. It is headed by Louis Creaven and other businessmen include Pat Mulcair, whose company is the biggest road builder in the country. JP McManus is also a founding member of the trust.

The trust, in association with the JP McManus Invitational Pro-Am and the Friends of the Trust, has raised over 10m for the purchase of important hospital equipment.

The trust has also funded various research projects in the MWHB area.

Mr O’Malley said the voluntary sector plays a key role in delivering healthcare services in this country.

“Cancer places a huge burden on our society. One-in-three individuals in Ireland will develop cancer during their lifetime. The latest report from the

National Cancer Registry shows that just over 20,000 new cancers occurred annually between 1994 and 2000 and that approximately 7,500 people died from cancer each year in the same time period.

In the MWHB, major progress has been made in recent years.

He said: “Since 1997, almost 48m has been allocated to the MWHB specifically for the development of oncology services.

Mr O’Malley praised the work of Dr Rajish Gupta, Regional Director of Cancer Services for the development of cancer services in the region.