Plan to begin work on new primary care centre in Offaly this summer
CONSTRUCTION work should begin on the long awaited Birr primary care centre this summer with the facility in use by 2025.
“The developer hopes to be on site in July of this year and all going well it'll be an 18 to 20 months build and three to four months to commission it,” said Cllr Peter Ormond.
Cllr Ormond was speaking to the Tribune during a visit to the primary care centre in Tullamore by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly on Friday.
“People are looking for it for a long, long time now and all the services are going to be under the one roof,” said Cllr Ormond.
“There is going to be a new ambulance base at the back of it as well. It's going to be a complete new facility and it will bring all the services back.
“The mental health service at the moment is currently moved out of Birr into Banagher so that'll move back. I think it's going to be a very positive development for the area in terms of health promotion and the health service.”
Cllr Ormond accepted that getting staff across some disciplines remains a challenge but added: “We heard it from all the different people here today. I'd be confident [of recruitment]with a new building there and we're very lucky in Birr to have excellent GPs who are providing an excellent service.”
Planning permission was granted on March 12 to BPI Investments to construct the facility on a site at the rear of the Outdoor Education Centre.
It will have GP rooms, consulting rooms, treatment areas and a pharmacy.
Minister Donnelly said he hopes the project can go ahead as soon as possible.
“Detailed design is done. Planning is through, there's about two weeks left for people to object and we're hoping nobody objects for all the right reasons, and then we move immediately,” he said.
“The developer is currently mobilising the resources required to get in to build and get diggers on site.”
The optimism around the project was underlined when Joe Ruane, HSE head of primary care for the Midlands, Louth and Meath, said Minister Donnelly has been invited to conduct a sod turning at the site “in the coming weeks”.
Asked about the out of hours GP service MIDOC, which was threatened last year because of a dispute between doctors and the HSE, Minister Donnelly said his focus is on maintaining the service, and if possible, expanding it.
“Most importantly for people in the Midlands the service level remained. An interim solution was put in place,” said Minister Donnelly.
He indicated that talks are continuing: “There's an ongoing conversation with the current providers and the HSE and I don't want to say anything because I want to give the HSE and the current providers space to have whatever conversations they need to have.
“Really what matters to me, is not whether it's MIDOC or anybody else, what matters to me, is that the service level remains and expands over time.”
When it was put to him that expanding the out of hours GP service will be difficult given the challenges finding doctors, the Minister replied: “Anything is possible.”