Concerns elderly care unit will close for good

A second protest is planned today outside Dungarvan Community Hospital amid fears the closure of a 27-bed elderly care rehabilitation unit will prove permanent.

Yesterday, more than 50 family and friends gathered outside the hospital, angered at the short notice they received of the move which will see their elderly relatives dispersed onto other wards throughout the 132-bed hospital.

While the HSE says the closure of the Sacred Heart unit, which opened in 1996, is a temporary measure, families say a “temporary” closure of another unit in the hospital last year, St Enda’s, proved permanent.