Opening of critical care unit to ease pressure on hospital A&E

PRESSURE is set to ease on the emergency department (ED) at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick as a €35 million critical care unit nears completion.

Opening of critical care unit to ease pressure on  hospital  A&E

The state-of-the-art facility will be ready early in the new year.

Additional emergency beds will come on stream, helping the situation at the ED, &where conditions have led to walk outs by nurses.

There will also be 19 beds in special isolation sections to care for patients with cystic fibrosis or other conditions that leave them prone to infection.

A spokesman for the ED said the critical care unit is a major step forward in the provision of emergency care, diagnostics and acute surgery.

The development is one of the largest capital projects undertaken by the HSE this year.

A HSE spokesman said: “This new facility will ensure that critical and coronary care services of the highest level will be available and easily accessible to all people of the region.”

The development will be linked to the existing hospital and consists of a six-storey block over two levels of basement parking. A new 12-bed intensive care unit will be located on the first floor along with supporting accommodation. The second floor will provide a 14-bed high-dependency unit, while the third floor will provide a 16-bed coronary care unit.

The fourth floor will contain a cardiac non-invasive investigation unit along with two catherisation laboratories and a 9-bed day ward. The ground floor will be available for later development while the fifth floor will be required to accommodate the building services plant. Each level will have a floor area of approximately 1,450sq m.

The HSE spokesman said the facility will meet the highest infection control standards. Strong emphasis has been placed on the segregation of different users, which is very important from an infection control perspective.

The development includes 19 full isolation rooms spread over the first, second and third levels.

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