From this week’s Galway City Tribune – The cost of building a new Emergency Department at University Hospital Galway is now likely to exceed €500 million following a “very significant increase” in plans for the “constricted” site, according to a briefing note prepared for Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.

The statement by the Major Capital Projects Unit at the Department of Health describes the proposed facility as a “large and complex project”, and notes that it was originally expected to cost between €65 million and €120 million.

However, new maternity and paediatric departments have been added to the plans, and it’s now likely to require a capital budget of “at least” €500 million, along with additional operating costs of €40 million per year, the briefing note states.

The news comes as the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) published a report which found the existing ‘temporary’ ED – opened last October – was “grossly overcrowded” and not functioning as effectively as it should be.

However, a statement issued by the Saolta University Health Care Group this week insisted that the ministerial briefing did not cast doubt on the project.

This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the July 28 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.