Site for new Midlands Hospice is confirmed

Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly has confirmed that the long-awaited Midlands Hospice is to be developed at the Arden Lane site in Tullamore.

The 20-bed facility will serve Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Longford, and is to be developed subject to planning permission and with a plan to service the site being completed within a 12 month period.

In his statement, Minister Donnelly expressed concerns at any prospect of the hospice project "being delayed by years" so he stated that, in order to address concerns which had been raised with him, he stipulated that planning for the new hospice at Arden Lane must be granted "within twelve months" along with an agreed road widening plan and funded commitments from the relevant state bodies to bring services to the Arden Lane site.

The Minister added that “should these criteria not be met, I am instructing my Department and the HSE to revert at that point to the ‘Wellwood’ site, should it still be available, as the designated site."

Minister Donnelly said:

“I am delighted to confirm the site location for the new Midlands Hospice in Tullamore. The government has already committed capital funding of €20 million to build this hospice, including the 20-bed inpatient facility.

“The new development will provide a hub for the provision of specialist palliative care services across the Midlands, including day care, outpatient, inpatient and community services.

“Palliative care is a crucial part of our health service, providing expert and compassionate care to people who need end-of-life care or who have life-limiting conditions. I was delighted to launch recently the new palliative care strategy and to allocate several million euro in new annual funding. This will in part be able to support palliative care services for the people of the Midlands.”

A number of locations were considered for the development of the new Midlands Hospice. ‘Arden Lane’ has been identified as the highest scoring site via a process run by the Health Service Executive (HSE).

Minister Donnelly also acknowledged the work of local community groups, palliative care professionals, hospice providers, the HSE, and all those who have worked tirelessly to progress a hospice for the Midlands.”

The Minister for Health has today (Wednesday) written to the HSE CEO and Regional Executive Officer for HSE Dublin and Midlands outlining the progress that must be made within twelve months.

Officials in the Department of Health will work closely with the HSE to monitor progress on what the Minister described as "this important infrastructural development on behalf of the people of the Midlands."