Field hospital to provide intermediate care

A field hospital opened to patients this week in the University of Limerick (UL) Sports Arena is to provide intermediate care and is expected to remain in place until at least September, with an option to extend until November.

A collaboration between University of Limerick and UL Hospitals Group has led to the opening of the Intermediate Care Facility on the grounds of the UL campus in the Sports Arena, which lies idle due to the pandemic.

“This facility will mean that the people of our region can rest assured that contingency capacity is now in place to support UL Hospitals Group, either in the case of the general capacity issues or, indeed, in the case of a second surge of Covid-19,” said Prof Paul Burke, executive lead on the project, Chief Academic Officer at UL Hospitals Group and Vice Dean of Health Sciences at UL.

The facility is to provide care for non-Covid-19 patients who are fit for discharge from any of the acute hospitals in the UL Hospitals Group, but who would benefit from further rehabilitation, or may be waiting to go into long-term care.

It has been developed as a contingency facility, and a solution to the patient flow and crowding challenges experienced in the region’s hospitals during the pandemic.

“Area Crisis Management Teams have devised Intermediate Care Plans in the event of a resurgence of Covid-19,” said UL Hospitals Group CEO, Colette Cowan. “This is especially relevant in the Mid-West where baseline bed capacity is lower and there is limited private hospital capacity. We are working with community colleagues on further increasing intermediate care once we vacate the UL Arena.”

Four new-build projects within the UL Hospitals Group are underway and are to deliver up to 122 new beds for the region.

A 60-bed block at UHL is due for completion before year end.

Two single-room en suite blocks, one 24-bed, and one 14-bed blocks, are scheduled for completion at the UHL site by the late summer.

A separate 24-bed single-room en suite block is being built at Croom Orthopaedic Hospital, and that too is due to be completed by the end of the summer.

The UL Hospitals Group Intermediate Care Facility is headed by Clinical Lead, Prof Mike Watts, Clinical Lead of Unscheduled Care, UL Hospitals Group.

valerie.ryan@imt.ie