RTE's Claire Byrne, who is patron of Offaly Hospice, was pictured in February of last year of this year with Offaly Hospice Directors Edward Delahunt, Liam Butler, Professor Humphrey O’Connor (Chairman), Barbara Doyle and Phyllis Howlin, CNS Laois Offaly Palliative Care Team, on the site of the proposed Midlands Hospice.Massive €20m funding boost for new Midlands Hospice

HSE urged to use existing plans for Midlands Hospice

Geraldine Grennan

Published: Mon 10 Apr 2023, 5:52 PM

Last updated: Tue 11 Apr 2023, 10:06 AM

The only way in which the planned timeline for opening of the new Midlands Hospice at the end of 2025 can be achieved is by incorporating existing architect plans for the project into the new build, according to the chair of Offaly Hospice.

Professor Humphrey O’Connor said he was “very heartened” to hear the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnolly, say on his visit to Tullamore last week that the new design team to be appointed will be “highly cognisant of designs that have already been done” and said it makes both “common sense and commercial sense” for the existing designs to be taken into account as part of the building project.

Speaking to the Offaly Independent in the wake of the Health Minister’s visit to Offaly last week, Professor O’Connor said Offaly Hospice spent from January 2021 until September 2022 preparing plans for a 16-bed Midlands Hospice on a co-located site on the grounds of Tullamore Hospital.

“Huge amounts of time, expertise and expense were invested in having these designs prepared, and if the whole process were to start all over again from scratch it would be at least September 2024 before a sod would be turned on the site” he said.

On his last visit to Tullamore at the end of last year, Minister Stephen Donnelly stated that he expected the Midlands Hospice to be operational by the end of 2025, but the Chair of Offaly Hospice says there is “no way” this timeline can be met if a completely new set of architect plans has to be drawn up.

“I know there is a procurement process to be gone through but, in practical terms I strongly believe the only way that 2025 deadline can be met is if the HSE incorporates the existing plans into the project,” said Prof. O’Connor.

Prof. O’Connor said Minister Donnelly is “extremely invested” in the advancement of the Midlands Hospice project, and he also paid tribute to the contribution of Deputy Barry Cowen and the many voluntary groups and organisations across the Midlands who have been “fundraising tirelessly over a long number of years” to ensure the hospice is built.