Sustainability and energy efficiency goals of €6.5m refresh of hospital

An allocation of €6.5m announced for the Midland Regional Hospital Mullingar is aimed at improving the energy efficiency of the building - but will also refresh the hospital's appearance, the HSE has said this week.

Scaffolding has been erected and work on the improvements is due to begin this week. The works include the replacement of windows, installation of solar panels and the upgrade of air handling units.

"This will really add to the sustainability and energy efficiency of the hospital," Margaret Kelleher, Hospital Manager, Regional Hospital Mullingar, said this week, explaining that the funding has come from the Capital & Estates Sustainable Infrastructure Office.

Ms Kelleher spoke of the importance of the work being undertaken: "As a public body, we are mandated to reduce our energy consumption and carbon emissions," she said.

"The main targets set by the government under the Climate Action Plan are a 50% improvement in energy efficiency and an absolute reduction in carbon emissions of 51% by 2030 (baseline of 2016-2018 average)."

However, she went on to reveal, the developments will cause some disruption to the hospital service, including closing wards on a rolling basis.

"We aim to have these works largely completed over the summer months and keep disruption to patients and staff to a minimum," Ms Kelleher said.

She added that there has already been significant investment in replacing old inefficient boilers in the maintenance yard with decentralised, efficient gas boilers with the intention that these will act as back-up/resilience for new heat pumps to be installed in a later phase, scheduled for commencement on site in 2027.