Maternity hospital to move to St Vincent’s site
Around €150m has been approved in the HSE’s capital plan to allow the project to proceed.
Building is expected to begin in the spring of 2016 and be completed no later than 2018.
Health Minister James Reilly, who made the announcement, said the purpose-built facility at Elm Park would be twice the size of the existing hospital at Holles St.
The new hospital will be designed to accommodate up to 10,000 births per year. It will have a high- dependency unit, a neo- natal intensive care unit, and a special care baby unit.
Dr Reilly said the maternity hospital had around 2,500 neo-natal intensive care admissions every year.
He said the relocation of the hospital to the St Vincent’s campus would allow optimal care for mothers, particularly those at high risk, by ensuring on-site access to a range of medical and surgical specialities that they may require.
Over the past 20 years, the number of babies delivered at the National Maternity Hospital rose by almost 50%, with over 9,000 births last year.
It has been estimated that €25m in capital funding would be needed in the short term for the hospital to remain in Holles St.
Master of the hospital, Dr Rhona Mahony, said the hospital was currently situated in an old building no longer fit for purpose, and a new facility was urgently needed.
She said: “One-in-eight babies born in this State is born here at the National Maternity Hospital so a large part of Ireland starts here.
“We are a national tertiary facility. Therefore, we look after some of the youngest and most vulnerable citizens in this state.”
She said the relocation of the hospital would also mean that the hospital would be co-located with a major adult hospital with specialist services.
Nicky Jermyn, CEO of the St Vincent’s Hospital Healthcare Group, said the two hospitals already enjoy a very close working relationship. He said closer proximity and enhanced collaboration would be in the best interests of patients.
Dr Reilly said the relocation addressed a key recommendation in the 2008 KPMG Independent Review of Maternity and Gynaecology Services in the Greater Dublin Area, that Dublin maternity hospitals should be located alongside adult acute services.
Dr Mahony said the buildings in Holles St would be ceded to the State once the relocation was complete.
The Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists welcomed the move, saying it was in line with best international practice.
