St Mary’s losing its fight for survival

As Cork hospital loses services its future remains unclear, writes Catherine Shanahan

STARVED of staff, crippled by budget cuts, services bled dry, the North Infirmary, the only remaining general hospital on Cork city’s northside, breathed its last on November 27, 1987.

Twenty-two years on, the only other hospital on the city’s northside not in private ownership is following a similar pattern: staff are being redeployed, services transferred and Health Service Executive (HSE) proposals for future activity on the site have moved from a purely medical focus to a mixture of retail, community and primary and continuing care.