Special Covid-19 unit for Laois delayed by a year
The HSE has confirmed a new delivery date for a major extension planned at Portlaoise hospital.
Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise is to get a multi million new Respiratory Assessment Unit, announced last spring to assist staff to see Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 respiratory patients separately.
The unit was initially promised to be ready by the end of 2021, however a planning application has only been submitted to Laois County Council in the past week.
A spokesperson for the HSE has now confirmed what the delay was.
"The RAU development has required extensive planning and design consultation given the significant size and scale of the development for the Hospital."
The spokesperson said that the unit is expected to be ready within 18 months, by March 2023.
"It is anticipated that construction will commence in Q1 2022 and will be complete in Q1 2023."
Last February the HSE's Dublin Midland Hospital Group confirmed the development plan.
It said the Respiratory Assessment Unit will be a two-storey modular building to allow the Emergency Department segregate Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 clients. It was to be completed by September 2021 and operational by December at a total cost of €4.9 million.See our story below.