Galway Bay fm newsroom - The Saolta Hospital Group says its plans to provide additional capacity for Western hospitals for Covid-19 patients are advanced.
The group is intensifying its efforts to provide additional capacity to support the hospitals in Galway, Mayo and Roscommon in the event of a surge in the number of cases of COVID-19.
The group says its plans to deliver that extra available capacity, by identifying ward space in Merlin Park Hospital, dedicated wards in Roscommon Hospital, using the private hospitals in Galway; and using the new Mayo Roscommon Hospice building in Castlebar if necessary are advanced.
The hospital group has confirmed that it has also submitted a proposal nationally to develop an additional health facility in Galway city which would be located on the grounds of NUI Galway.
It's understood this will be the field hospital announced by Saolta CEO Tony Canavan last week.
In a statement to Galway Bay fm news Saolta says while they are hopeful that they won’t need to use all of this extra capacity they feel it's important to plan and prepare for a worst case scenario.
It's understood there are plans for a self-isolation facility at the Connacht Hotel on the old Dublin road in Renmore, which comes under the remit of Community Services.
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