Cork private hospital developers sign €8.5m equipment deal

THE developers of a new €90 million private hospital in Cork have signed an €8.5 million deal to equip it with the world’s most advanced diagnostic machines.

Irish private hospital operator Sheehan Medical said the deal with Siemen’s Healthcare will mean their Cork Medical Centre, which is due to open in Mahon in September, will be one of the country’s most technologically advanced medical centres.

The contract includes financing for all the hospital’s equipment from Siemens Financial Services, the company’s first deal in Ireland.

Approximately half the money will be spent on technology from Siemens Healthcare, including a suite of state-of-the-art equipment, including its flagship angiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT), x-ray and ultrasound equipment.

Sheehan Medical’s chief executive, James Sheehan, said a key factor in choosing Siemens was their ability to provide the latest technology to enhance clinical outcomes, plus their ability to support it with financing, ICT and project management.

“’We have first class technology in all our hospitals and we aim to make the Cork Medical Centre the most hi-tech facility ever developed in Ireland,” he said. “Siemens is an important part of this aim, their ability to provide an integrated approach that covers innovative technology will allow us levels of diagnosis and treatment that will be in unsurpassed in this country.

“The success of this deal marks the next stage of the on-going five-year relationship between Sheehan Medical and Siemens whose technology we also use at our successful Galway Clinic.”

Kevin Dand, the head of Siemens Healthcare in Ireland, said his company was keen to partner with Sheehan Medical.

The Cork Medical Centre will provide 75 single in-patient bedrooms, fully sealed with the latest in infection control. The main focus of the hospital will be surgery, with four operating theatres and a same-day surgery centre with 20 out-patient beds.

The hospital, located at the City Gate Complex at Mahon Point, will have a strong focus on neurology and cardiology.

The hospital will also house an intensive care unit; radiology a cardiology, oncology and neuroscience facility.