Galway East TD has praised the partnership of public and private hospitals to maximise the amount of beds and resources available for the Covid-19 crisis.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced yesterday that an agreement had been reached for the public health service to make full use of private hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic.
Deputy Canney said that this is the “logical move” to make amid a national crisis requires that “everyone puts their shoulder to the wheel”.
The HSE has arranged to lease 19 private hospitals for a period of three months, during which time they will operate as part of the public health service.
The hospitals will be reimbursed for their expenses, and the Private Hospitals Association
“Both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients will be treated in the hospitals under the arrangement, which will be available for review on a mutually agreed basis,” Seán Canney said.
The private hospital sector has 19 hospitals with an estimated capacity of 1,900 inpatient beds, 600 day beds, 47 intensive care unit beds and 54 high dependency unit beds.
The sector’s capacity includes 1,000 single bed inpatient rooms, while it will provide an additional 194 ventilators and nine laboratory services at various sites.
Deputy Canney said that this partnership “will offer vital additional beds and services at a time when they are most needed.”
Members of the Private Hospitals Association in Galway include the Galway Clinic, and the Bon Secours Hospital.
Minister for Health Simon Harris said that the agreement would add 17% capacity to the Irish health service, but that people should not become complacent.
As of last night there are now 2,910 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Republic of Ireland, with 77 cases in Galway.
The number of deaths caused by Covid-19 in the state went up by 8 on Monday, bringing the number of deaths so far to 54.
