Hospital petition seeks 10,000 names

A PETITION has been launched in Tralee to collect 10,000 signatures in support of a campaign for a local community hospital.

A campaign group is to meet Health Minister Mary Harney later this month on the issue. It is planning to present the signatures to her as an expression of the anger and disappointment on the hospital issue which has been going on for well over a decade, a spokesperson said.

The 50-bed hospital building has been completed but the HSE is planning to use almost half the beds for rehabilitation purposes rather than for elderly people in the Tralee area.

A spokesperson said they were insisting that a promise made to them — that the unit would be specifically for the elderly — be honoured. The group is collecting signatures in the area, with the demand “that the HSE open our community hospital for the purpose for which it was built — the long-stay care of the elderly”.

However, the HSE has already announced 24 of the beds will be used by the rehabilitation services.

One of the leaders of the campaign, Tralee Fine Gael town councillor Mairead Fernane, said they were determined to show the support that existed for the hospital. At present, some elderly people from the Tralee area have to travel to Killarney and other areas for long-stay accommodation.

Other elderly people in long-term care at Kerry General Hospital, in Tralee, are due to be transferred to the new community hospital.