Galway Bay fm newsroom - The HSE says an orthopaedic surgery theatre is set to re-open at Merlin Park Hospital in the coming weeks.
That's significantly earlier than previous estimations which suggested it could be late summer before facilities were restored.
It's after a leaking roof shut the existing theatres at the hospital last September.
Although repairs were completed a short time later, the facilities remained closed due to the need for an external clinical assessment to be carried out.
The HSE has now revealed that one of those theatres will be re-opened by next month at the latest.
Meanwhile, it's expected that a new modular theatre building planned at Merlin Park to provide additional capacity will not open until the autumn.
Galway Roscommon T.D, Eugene Murphy says it'll be a huge relief to have one of the old theatres back in operation
