Local welcome for Arden Lane
MIDLANDS REGIONAL HOSPICE
North Westmeath Hospice members have welcomed the decision Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has made that the proposed midlands regional hospice will be located at a site on the Arden Lane, Tullamore (see details, right).
Tullamore Lions Club acquired the site under the auspices of their fundraising campaign ‘Hooves for Hospice’.
In a statement, North Westmeath Hospice pointed out that the midlands is the only region in the country without a level three in-patient hospice facility, and provided some background on the matter.
“In 2020, then Taoiseach Micheál Martin allocated €20 million for the construction of such a midlands hospice; that was, of course, great news. There was still a big challenge for the region – finding a site. Hospices are, by their very nature, havens of care and tranquility for all of those individuals and their families who need them.”
Tullamore was the designated location and two sites were sourced there, at Arden Lane and at Wellwood. North Westmeath representatives, along with representatives from all of the other groups in the region, visited the sites and took advice from the HSE management team and palliative care practitioners.
“North Westmeath representatives gave great time and consideration to which would be the best site, and following that, the groups were asked to engage in a voting matrix – that process showed that the Arden Lane site was preferred.
“The decision was referred to Minister Donnelly, who on September 24, advised that Arden Lane was to be the location for the new midlands regional hospice.
“There is now cause for celebration as the HSE Midlands and the Specialist Palliative Care unit at the Department of Health can get on with the work of getting our regional hospice built and ready for our people.”
North Westmeath Hospice was represented by Teresa Collentine and Veronica Larkin throughout the process, and both are grateful to their hospice colleagues, to the Longford Westmeath Palliative Care Team, to the Specialist Hospice Unit at the Department of Health, to the other major service providers, the Irish Hospice Foundation, to local representatives Peter Burke and Robert Troy and the local press and media who have supported their campaign.