Green light for €25m emergency department at Letterkenny hospital

WORK IS expected to start early next year on a €25 million emergency department at Letterkenny General Hospital, Co Donegal.

Letterkenny Town Council has granted permission to the Health Service Executive for the development, which will comprise a total floor area of 6,600sq m.

Seán Murphy, the hospital's manager, said: "This facility will provide the residents of Donegal with a purpose-built emergency department that will meet 21st-century emergency care standards".He said the wards are predominantly single-room facilities that will significantly enhance the control of infection within the hospital.

Dr James McDaid TD expressed his delight that planning permission has been granted. He praised the work of the management, staff and the project team at the hospital for all their hard work and dedication to the project.

The development will include an 11-bay medical assessment unit on the ground floor, with 30 patient treatment spaces. The current unit has just eight spaces.

Above the emergency department, three additional floors, each containing a 24-bed medical ward, will be constructed to the latest international and infection-control guidance.

In a 24-bed ward, 16 of these will be single-bed units, of which four will be fitted out to full isolation facility standards. These three 24-bed wards will eventually replace other wards, including the interim short-stay ward which was completed earlier this year.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times