HSE discussed sale of Owenacurra two years before residents were told of closure
The Owenacurra Centre in Midleton. New documents show the possibility of a sale of Owenacurra was openly mooted as far back as May of 2019.
The HSE first discussed the sale of the Owenacurra mental health facility more than two years before residents and their families were informed that the centre was to be closed.
The HSE informed the then 19 residents of the 24-hour Midleton facility that it was to close in June of 2021, a decision which led to outrage locally and a campaign of resistance by the residents and their families.
However, new documents released under freedom of information to local councillor Liam Quaide show the possibility of a sale of Owenacurra was openly mooted as far back as May of 2019.
At the time of the closure announcement, Kevin Morrison, then acting head of mental health services for the Cork/Kerry region, told the residents that the centre “must close because the current building is not suitable and cannot be brought to the standard needed and that you deserve”.
Numerous subsequent HSE briefings likewise emphasised that it was not the health service’s intention to close Owenacurra, which was first established in the 1980s, and that it regretted having to move the residents.
Michael Fitzgerald, the chief officer for Cork/Kerry Community Healthcare, subsequently told the Oireachtas subcommittee on mental health that: “This was not our original plan for the valuable service at the Owenacurra Centre, and while it was a difficult decision, there was no other option open to us.”
He added that the HSE had no “specific plans” for the site post-closure, although it did “certainly recognise its value”.
The new documents — which have been released 11 months after the request was first made — show however that both Mr Morrison and the then head of service for the region Sinead Glennon were involved in discussions where the sale of Owenacurra was mooted dating from May of 2019.
That month, a meeting was held within the HSE to discuss the rebuild costs for psychiatric units in the region.
Regarding Owenacurra, the meeting’s written preamble said: “Recommend spending anything up to €200-€300k for any building upgrade works/bathrooms etc. If sold, is sold with it.”
Eight mental health facilities were discussed at the meeting — Owenacurra was the only one for which a sale was mooted in the released records.
The following month Ms Glennon, in a note summarising the initial meeting for Mr Morrison and the HSE’s assistant national director of estates for the southern region, stated that for Owenacurra it would be “recommended to proceed with upgrade works including electrical upgrade”.
“If the building is sold, some of this investment could be recouped,” she said.
The overall refurbishment budget posited for Owenacurra was at the same time one of the lowest for any of the facilities in the region.
A HSE spokesperson said it had been “prudent” to list sale as an option given the 40-year-old nature of the building, but said that instead “the decision was taken to refurbish it”.
They added that as those refurbishment plans were developed “expert reports revealed” that the refurbishment would “not be enough” to bring the accommodation up to spec “in a cost efficient way”.
The spokesperson further said that the “theoretical option of sale” was not included for the other facilities as “they are not standalone buildings”.
“The FOI material raises further questions about the HSE's motives for closing the Owenacurra Centre and the low level of investment in its premises over the years,” Mr Quaide said regarding the new documents.
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