TDs for Carlow and Kilkenny are in agreement that St Luke’s Hospital needs to expand its bed numbers.
The facility is frequently featured on the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation’s trolley watch for having double-digit figures waiting for a space.
Earlier this year, it opened the Ormond Wing with 72 en-suite rooms, 50 of which were to replace old beds with just 20 additional ones.
Management is seeking to build another five-storey block that would house 72 more beds and 14 new Intensive Care unit beds.
While launching the hospital’s new MRI scanner yesterday, Minister Malcolm Noonan told KCLR News that the bid for funding is something that has cross-party support locally.
He said “We’ve been speaking to the Minister about this. We see it as hugely important, certainly, we will work with the five Oireachtas members to ensure that we get a push on the capital funding for this. I think the next stage is to appoint a design team, so that’s what we’re trying to work with the Minister for Health to provide. “
