Plan to more than double size of Cork's Mercy University Hospital

The latest pitch for a new Cork City hospital envisages more than doubling the size of Mercy University Hospital (MUH) in a largely skyward expansion, supported by a 1,000 space multi-storey car park and fronted by a plaza-style pedestrianised streetscape.

Proposals for a ’Mercy Quarter’ are outlined in a confidential document seen by the Irish Examiner and presented during the week to representatives of South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (SIVUH).

The two hospitals have longstanding plans to merge. It was first mooted in 2007 when it was envisaged that a new 600-bed hospital would be operating in the city by 2012. Last year, the South/SouthWest Hospital group, which includes MUH and SIVUH, submitted a shortlist of six sites to the Department of Health for consideration as possible locations for a €300m hospital in Cork City.

The MUH site was not on the shortlist. Asked what had happened to the shortlist, a spokesperson for the group said: “Discussions are ongoing between each of the hospitals, UCC, and the HSE regarding the optimal site for a new hospital. No decision has been made.”

MUH concedes that the hospital may need to use “pop-up” facilities during construction to ensure continuity of services.