Liquidator expected to be appointed to Mahon private hospital

THE final death-knell for a Cork private hospital will sound in the next few days when a liquidator is appointed to the €90 million facility owned by Sheehan Medical.

The company could not get VHI to cover the treatment of patients at the Cork Medical Centre, which opened last October but was forced to close earlier this month with the loss of 75 jobs.

Despite discussions since then with the Government about use of the hospital to treat public patients, including possible use by the National Treatment Purchase Fund, the owners have been in talks in the past week with a number of accountancy firms about acting as liquidator.

The Irish Examiner understands the announcement of a voluntary liquidation is expected this week. It is believed that tens of millions of euro is owed to creditors including staff and suppliers who installed catering and medical technology equipment, at the premises in Mahon where day surgeries had been provided in the few months it was opened.

It is understood that while Health Minister Dr James Reilly had shown interest in use of the hospital for public patients, having met with management days after the closure, either the funding was unavailable or the time- scale for agreement would have been too long for the Cork Medical Centre to avoid receivership.

The Sheehan family had also sought investment from operators which could run the facility without VHI support, including the firm with a majority stake in the Mater Hospital in Dublin, but no deal was reached.

VHI insisted it told the Sheehan family, which invested €20m in the hospital, as far back as 2009 that it would not cover patient treatment. VHI has claimed there is already enough private hospital capacity in Cork. But the hospital’s owners claimed assurances of cover were given verbally as recently as last January.

VHI support was vital to the hospital’s success, even with the promise of cover from Aviva and Quinn.