HSE to award contract for Athlone community nursing unit ‘this autumn’

The HSE said it expects to finalise a contract for the construction of its new community nursing unit in Clonbrusk "early in the fourth quarter" of this year, which suggests it would be in October or November.

The 50-bed facility, planned as the long-term replacement for outdated facilities at St Vincent's Care Centre in Athlone, is due to be developed on a public-private partnership basis.

When asked for an update on the current status of the development, a HSE spokesperson said the procurement process for it was ongoing, with the contract expected to be awarded early in the fourth quarter of the year.

"Construction will start after that date," said the spokesperson, who said the anticipated timeframe for construction of the facility would be 20 months from the date of the contract being awarded.

This would indicate that if the contract was awarded this autumn, and if there were no further delays, the facility should be fully constructed by the summer of 2024.

A highly controversial aspect of the project has been the HSE's plan to close the South Westmeath Hospice, on the grounds of St Vincent's Care Centre, and to relocate the service to Clonbrusk, in what the hospice committee fears would not be a like-for-like facility.

In response to a query from the Westmeath Independent about the local hospice, the HSE last week reiterated that "four Level 2 Palliative Care support beds" would be included as part of the Clonbrusk development.

The HSE said there were 23 residents currently being cared for at St Vincent's Care Centre in Athlone.

It added that there were five other beds at St Vincent's which would be filled when maintenance works, currently underway, were competed "in the next few weeks".