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St. Johns Hospital unveils five-year strategy to expand its proven care standards

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St Johns Hospital strategy  – CEO of St. John’s Emer Martin, Chairman of the Board of St. John’s Hospital Bishop Brendan Leahy and Dr Cathy Casey, Consultant Obstetrician/Gynaecologist. Picture; Arthur Ellis.

Strategy includes 150 bed unit on site to ensure best-in-class care delivered at the hospital is matched by state-of-the-art facilities

The strategy includes a 150-bed unit on site to ensure best-in-class care delivered at the hospital is matched by state-of-the-art facilities.

St. John’s Hospital, Limerick – a member of the UL Hospitals Group – has today unveiled a five-year St Johns Hospital strategy that will enable it expand the excellent care synonymous with it for many generations and invest in its people and patients, including through a 150 bed on-site extension.

Unveiled at an event on the very site earmarked for the expansion, at the rear of the existing hospital, the St Johns Hospital strategy is a roadmap that will enable St. John’s play a key role in addressing capacity requirements in the Mid-West.


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The Board developed the strategy following in-depth consultation with all staff, its partners at the University of Limerick Hospital Group, UL, GPs, St. John’s Hospital Patient Partnership Forum and the wider public. It is built around the hospital’s vision of being a leading provider of healthcare services where innovation and excellence are at the heart of the patient experience.

The proposal addresses the necessary capacity requirement to tackle public waiting lists by accommodating a very significant proportion of the scheduled care work in the region. It provides solutions to the critical needs associated with the public waiting lists. St. John’s already has the 6th busiest endoscopy list and 12th busiest elective surgery list in the country, as well as the second busiest Injury Unit in the country.

Among the strategy priorities identified in the consultation process are the development of a new modern €60m facility complete with increased single ensuite rooms, greater access to services, development of services for the management of chronic diseases and provision of seven-day injury unit services.

The strategy is both patient and people/staff-centric but very much contingent on the delivery of the new, state-of-the-art 150-in-patient bed facility that will take the hospital from an 89 to 200-bed hospital. The new facility will deliver an additional 31,390 bed days per annum in the Limerick region and meet HIQA and national antimicrobial resistance standards for Infection, Prevention and Control. It will also deliver a safer patient environment, increase in-patient access by 150% and provide an overall improvement in patient experience as well as staff working experience.

It will also result in a total of 667 additional full time equivalent jobs, via direct and indirect employment, in the regional economy through the activity of St. John’s Hospital, including 52 new jobs in St John’s Hospital comprising frontline clinicians and support roles, along with €210m total projected five year employment income impact as a result of investment in the hospital. The project has an estimated completion time from capital approval of 36 months and meets green criteria for sustainability. St. John’s currently employs 350 people.

Speaking at today’s strategy launch, CEO of St. John’s Emer Martin said: “St. John’s has made an incredible contribution to healthcare in Limerick for almost two and a half centuries and to this day delivers outstanding results. However, it’s also been long since acknowledged that the facilities here are simply not fit for the purpose or the people; our exceptional people who come to work here every day and the patients that they give that exceptional care to. That, essentially, is what this strategy is all about, finding a way to deliver this outstanding care in a modern, high-tech hospital to many more people across Limerick and the Mid-West.”

Chairman of the Board of St. John’s Hospital Bishop Brendan Leahy said: “Limerick people and the people of the wider Mid-West region have a huge appreciation and connection with St. John’s and that’s because of the standards of care delivered here, as indicated by both patient surveys and, indeed, HIQA’s latest inspection of St John’s in March this year.  You do not build up an affinity and respect like that unless you do things particularly well and, in such a challenged space as healthcare, that makes the women and men who come here to deliver care every day best-in-class.

“So, by any measurement, except of course for the facility itself, St. John’s is a model hospital and it makes absolute sense to not alone address the shortcomings in the existing hospital but, in doing so, give more people access to this standard of care in the Mid-West. We have the capacity on the site to do this and in a region that clearly needs key solutions like this to help address pressures on the system. It’s a win-win for healthcare in the Mid-West, for the UL Hospitals Group and the people of the Mid-West.”

Ms Martin added: “We recognise that what lies ahead may be challenging but we have the determination, resolve and resilience to fulfil our plan. We look forward to working with our patients, our staff, our healthcare partners and our local community to make our vision a reality.”

About St. John’s Hospital:

Founded in 1870, St. John’s is a designated Model2S Hospital, a Voluntary Hospital committed to continuing its role as a key provider of healthcare to the people of Limerick and the Midwest. It is a member of the UL Hospitals Group and works closely with University Hospital Limerick in the planning and delivery of healthcare services.

As a designated Model2S Hospital, it has the capabilities for carrying out intermediate acuity surgery which cannot be carried out on a day case basis and which requires in-patient stay and accommodation. It is the only designated Model 2S Hospital for the Mid-west region where a greater level of surgical acuity can be appropriately delivered, allowing University Hospital Limerick to concentrate on higher levels of acuity and complexity.

For more information on St Johns Hospital, go HERE

For more stories on St Johns Hospital, go HERE

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