South Westmeath Hospice to open in September

The South Westmeath Hospice will open on September 6, Health Minister Mary Harney told members of the fundraising committee at a meeting in the hospice on Sunday morning, which was also attended by Deputy Mary O'Rourke and Mayor of Athlone Cllr Mark Cooney. Chairman of the South Westmeath Hospice committee Dr Tony Lowry thanked the Minister for meeting with them and asked for an up to date position on the hospice. "Our intention is to open the first Monday in September, and unlike other hospices where they open one bed then two, in this case the four beds will be open. Obviously staff will be here slightly before that just to prepare everything. This will be fantastic for the area," said Minister Harney. She added: "As you know from the service plan not too many new things are opening because of the cutbacks in health this year, but this was one of the issues where we gave a directive that it had to open in 2010 and by open we didn't just mean one bed, we meant to open the full thing, the four beds and the homecare team." On hearing that the committee estimates the annual running costs for the hospice will be in the region of €350,000, Minister Harney said this was very cost effective for a four-bed hospice as it normally costs €250,000 for each of the beds for a year. The committee informed the Minister that it had raised a total of €1.8m over the years to build and kit-out the hospice. She said this was super and thanked them for their efforts, saying they had raised a huge amount. The committee informed the Minister that it had raised a total of €1.8m over the years to build and kit-out the hospice. She said this was super and thanked them for their efforts, saying they had raised a huge amount. Dr Lowry said the committee was also giving an undertaking to raise €100,000 towards the running costs for the first year, but added that they would not be in a position to this annually. The hospice, which is the first of its kind in the midlands, will serve South Westmeath, South Roscommon and West Offaly. Minister Harney said it would make a huge difference to the patients and their families to be able to be treated outside an acute hospital environment. She was also pleased to hear that there were facilities for families, including a room with a bed and a kitchenette. Deputy Mary O'Rourke and Mayor Mark Cooney informed the Minister that the committee was a great team and had been extremely active in raising funds for the hospice. After being invited to officially open the hospice, the Minister said she would be happy to be at the opening but thought the Taoiseach may like to officially open it as it is in the midlands.