Early report saw bigger role for Mercy

AN early draft of the Teamwork Report on the reconfiguration of acute hospital services in Cork and Kerry envisaged a far more prominent role for the Mercy University Hospital (MUH) than the final report recommended.

According to an earlier version, both Cork University Hospital (CUH) and MUH were the best site locations for the configuration of acute hospital services for a regional centre of excellence.

However, the final document put CUH firmly centrestage as the “only feasible site” for development as the regional centre of excellence and the “sole provider” of acute care. It said MUH could be considered as a potential location to provide “local” centre of excellence services in North Lee “and possibly to the wider city centre population”.