Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly welcomed the Cabinet’s approval to go to tender for the construction of the new National Maternity Hospital (NMH) at St Vincent’s University Hospital in Elm Park, writes Rose Barrett.
On Tuesday last, Cabinet approved the business cases for the relocation of the NMH which enables the Health Service Executive (HSE) to deploy its tender strategy to find a bidder to construct the new 244-bed maternity hospital.
Welcoming the announcement, Minister Donnelly said: “This is an important milestone towards the delivery of the new National Maternity Hospital.
“The new maternity hospital will be the biggest and most important investment in women’s healthcare in Ireland in decades. The quality of care delivered at the existing NMH at Holles Street is of the highest standard but is currently limited by infrastructural constraints.
“The new NMH is designed to be aligned with leading international standards which will result in improved patient and family experiences. Co-location of the NMH with St Vincent’s at Elm Park will enable greater and more direct access to a wide range of critical care and specialist medical services, reducing risk for both the mother and the newborn baby.”
The HSE is ready to go to tender on this project in the coming weeks. Once a successful bidder has been identified the Minister for Health will return to Cabinet to seek approval for the signing of contracts and to enable the project to proceed to the main construction phase.
Minister Donnelly also noted: “This will not just be a replacement of the existing National Maternity Hospital but will offer almost 50 per cent more in-patient and day case beds and provide additional capacity to manage national unmet need for women’s health services within a contemporary, state of the art facility.”
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