Millions to be invested in hospital
New facilities to help deal with Covid-19 this winter
A specialised isolation unit, a new laboratory and an upgrade of the ventilation system in the ICU to prevent the spread of airborne viruses are part of a multi-million euro investment at Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar to help in the battle Covid-19 this winter.
A number of projects are being fast tracked due to the Covid-19 crisis. In a wide reaching interview with the Westmeath Examiner (see pages 16 and 17), the hospital’s general manager Anita Brennan says that the investment “will significantly improve how the hospital works day to day”.
To date, the hospital has treated 104 patients diagnosed with Covid-19, 74 of whom had to be admitted. Nine members of staff who contracted the virus also had to be admitted for treatment.
The new 10-bed isolation unit will increase capacity and has been “specifically designed to house and cope this type of illness”, Ms Brennan says. The hospital’s ICU is getting a negative pressure ventilation system, which traps and contains potentially harmful airborne viruses or particles within a room.
Ms Brennan also revealed that early next year the hospital is hoping to “streamline” its ED and acute floor to “make them work better for us”. Welcoming the investment in the hospital, Ms Brennan said that “it’s not before its time for Mullingar”.
“They [the improvements] will inject some life into the building. People are getting ideas about how services can be tweaked. It’s all patient orientated, about how we can make life for patients in Mullingar better. We have a wonderful staff here in Mullingar and we have a relatively good hospital, but it needs the improvements that we are going to get. We are really very happy and very excited for the community.”
The tendering process for the hospital’s new MRI unit is also back on track after being delayed at the start of the Covid-19 crisis. Last year, the Friends of the Regional Hospital Mullingar reached its fundraising target of almost €1m to purchase the MRI scanner.
Ms Brennan says that she is “blown away by the sense of community and pride that the people of Westmeath and Longford have in their hospital”.
“You don’t see the same thing in the big smoke. It’s wonderful and great to see people so supportive of the hospital.”
The general manager, who was appointed last year, also praised her staff for their efforts throughout the crisis.
“It’s like every business and organisation, you have your own territory and people are always vying for their own service but with this there was a huge feeling of shared purpose and togetherness and looking out for each other and our patients and doing the very best that we could. I do think that we rose to the challenge.”
“I’m grateful for what we have learned and I’m grateful for how it has brought us together as a team but I wish it was over to be honest. It was very, very scary at the beginning. We’ve learned to live with it and we are at the state now where we are trying to improve things and get them much, much better,” she said.