Galway Bay fm newsroom - A new modular outpatient department at Portiuncula Hospital will become operational next month.
Speaking in response to a query from Deputy Denis Naughten in the Dáil, Minister Frank Feighan confirmed an opening date of March 15th.
Once operational, it's planned for the old outpatient department to be converted into a ward of over a dozen single rooms to boost capacity at the Ballinasloe hospital. .
Roscommon/Galway TD Denis Naughten has long-raised in the issue in the Dáil, citing the critical lack of beds available.
Compounding the issue, he argues, is a reduction of 10 percent in bed space at the Ballinasloe hospital due to Covid-19.
Addressing the Dáil, Minister Frank Feighan also confirmed that construction work on a long-awaited new 50 bed block is set to get underway this summer.
Deputy Naughten says the opening of the new modular outpatient department is welcome news.
However, he says there is still a good deal of work to be done to increase bed capacity at Portiuncula.
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