Positive update on St Vincent's Nursing Home expansion

Construction of the first 48-bed phase of a new Community Nursing Unit at St Vincent's Hospital in Athy could begin in the first quarter of next year, Senator Mark Wall has been told, writes Brian Byrne. Planning permission for the full 92-bed unit was given in August of last year.

CNUs provide care for residents who require general care, including those with dementia, physical disabilities, chronic physical illness, and psychiatry of old age. St Vincent's has traditionally included residents from Kilcullen as part of its patient complement, and fundraising for the hospital was for decades undertaken locally under the leadership of the late Josie Connolly. 

Senator Wall welcomed the positive update on the status of the CNU he was given in the Seanad by Minister for State Niall Collins upon behalf of the Minister for Health. The Senator had outlined the proud history of the hospital and the unrivalled level of care it provided. “This project is so badly needed for the excellent staff and management," he said. "It will benefit not just the people of Athy but the people of south Kildare and the surrounding districts." 

During the Seanad discussion, Senator Wall had noted how the the Sisters of Mercy had arrived at the former Famine-era workhouse as nursing sisters in 1873 and in 1898 the building had became a county home. "The 175 or so staff who work in the hospital have a reputation for care that goes above and beyond their call of duty and is the number one reason that there is always a waiting list of families hoping to obtain beds for their loved ones," he continued. "Not a week passes when I do not get a call from someone or meet a family or individual who tells me of the extraordinary care a loved one is receiving or has received in the past in St Vincent's."

He said he will continue to raise the matter of progress on the project at every opportunity.

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