New health centres in pipeline for two Galway towns . . . probably

Date Published: 18-Jul-2012

By Dara Bradley

Gort and Tuam have been identified as the two County Galway towns that will become home to primary care centres under the Government’s new multi-million Euro stimulus plan.

However, neither the Department of Health nor the Health Service Executive (HSE) West can provide clarity as to when the centres will be built, how much they will cost, or exactly what services the facilities will provide.

Dr James Reilly, Minister for Health, announced on Tuesday that primary care facilities will be developed at 20 locations across the country using the Public Private Partnership mechanism.

The announcement was made as part of the Government’s €2.25 billion stimulus package for infrastructure projects it hopes will reignite the economy and provide much-needed employment.

However, the announcement was thin on detail and spread more confusion than clarity.

The Minister listed 35 locations across the country that have been identified as locations for primary care centres but he said just 20 of them would be going ahead as part of this announcement.

Gort and Tuam were included in the list of 35, but the Department, Minister and HSE could not say if the two Galway sites would be included in the 20 that will go to construction in 2013.

No information was forthcoming in relation to how the 20 locations would be selected. Neither could they say what would happen to the 15 locations of the 35 that are not chosen in the 20 ‘priority’.

It said 20 locations “will be commissioned subject to agreement between the local GPs and the HSE on active local GP involvement in the centres.”

They will be built on a Public Private Partnership basis and the 20 “will be offered to the market in bundles of ten”, meaning one consortium will build ten facilities.

The HSE and Department of Health could not expand on where the Tuam and Gort sites were, when they would be built or what would be located in the centres, when contacted by the Connacht Tribune this week.

Read more in today’s Connacht Tribune