Scaled-back primary care centre gets approval

Planners have given the green light in recent days to a smaller-scale primary care centre in Clonbrusk. On Thursday last, Ath Medical Partnership, Galway Road, Roscommon, was granted planning permission to proceed to construction with revised proposals for a primary, community and continuing care health centre comprising of 4,330 square metres, down from the 6,000 plus square metres from the company's original planning application proposals on the 1.22 hectare site on the Coosan Road. It's thought building work will begin on the facility, which will also house three GP suites and a pharmacy, in the next two or three months. The decision was subject to 43 separate conditions, including that over €100,000 in planning fees be lodged to the local authority prior to the start of building on-site. Plans lodged with the local authority in April revealed that the two-storey building will consist of a "purpose-built primary care centre that provides a wide range of community health care services at first level contact serving the Athlone population". An absolutely delighted Cllr Kevin Boxer Moran said this week the faster the digger and blocks are on-site in Clonbrusk the better. "The primary care unit might be scaled back but at least Athlone will have more facilities than before," he stated, adding that he was particularly happy that doctors were on board this time, something which was absent previously. Among the services to be located in the new primary care centre include outpatient services, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, podiatry/chiropody, mental health outpatient services, dentistry and pediatrics with designated children's health area. It would also house speech and language services, MIDOC GP out-of-hours base, rehabilitation services, district nursing, homecare teams, social care teams, three GP suites and a dispensing pharmacy. 120 car parking spaces are also earmarked for the rear of the new building. Furthermore, Cllr Moran outlined that the HSE had come in for a lot of criticism in Athlone, much of it justified, for example in relation to Loughloe House, however, with this vital piece of infrastructure on the way, now was the time to meet Joe Ruane to see what are their long-term goals for healthcare in Athlone, particularly in relation to St Vincent's Hospital. "The fact that planning permission has been granted is a major step forward for health in Athlone," he pointed out, adding that a meeting with health authorities would provide clarity on the other services in the town. The Clonbrusk project will bring a wide range of health services under one roof, the architect's design statement for the new building earlier outlined, adding that the now approved proposals provides for phase one of the overall development, with an adjacent site earmarked to provide a purpose-built care of the elderly unit in the future. A developer will build the centre and the HSE will lease back the premises. As regards the timeframe for construction, the HSE was not in a position to give any details this week as it is awaiting an updated programme for the build from the developer. However, it's understood contracts have already been signed and building work could in two to three months time. The breakthrough in the now twelve-year saga over improved health facilities in Athlone came after the Westmeath Independent exclusively revealed in December last that the HSE planned to sell the site at Clonbrusk. The sale of the land, according to the original sale documents, was conditional on a primary care centre being constructed. The proposals to develop new health facilities in Athlone dates all the way back to 1999. After planning permission was secured for the project after what seemed a never-ending wrangle, there was huge anger when the HSE pulled the plug on the larger facility in 2010 due to funding constraints.