The Manager of Letterkenny General Hospital says the rebuilding and restoration of the facility following last year’s flood is continuing.
The Emergency Department is on track to be reopened in mid March, and key radiology and diagnostic services are being reintroduced from next month.
Sean Murphy paid tribute to staff, saying their perseverance and dedication had allowed the hospital function over the past number of months, and kept services going.
He acknowledged there have been difficulties, particularly in the interim Emergency Department this month, an issue which has been highlighted in the past number of weeks, particularly in terms of cancer patients having to go the Emergency Department.
He says while the priority is to get them to a ward as quickly as possible, there will sometimes be issues, and last week was a particularly difficult one:
Mr Murphy confirmed that discussions are ongoing with the hospital’s insurers in terms of paying for the restoration programme, and the government will also be providing some money to allow some services to be enhanced and improved.
The rebuild cost will be in excess of 15 million euro, and overall costs will exceed 30 million when interim measures and alternative facilities are factored in.
A major priority now is ensuring that there is no repeat of the damage, and Sean Murphy says a major flood prevention programme is being devised:
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