Elderly mental health patients to be transferred to new city community unit

THE 30 remaining mental health patients at a hospital in north Cork will be transferred to a new facility in Cork city by the end of the year.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) said yesterday it planned to relocate the patients to the newly constructed 50-bed community nursing unit at St Mary’s Orthopaedic Hospital in the third quarter of 2010.

Heatherside Hospital, near Buttevant, has for a number of years provided accommodation primarily for older people with enduring mental health issues.