L-R: Mr Peter O’Sullivan GDA, Ms Nora Rahill GDA, Minister for Health Leo Varadkar T.D., Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Paschal Donohoe T.D., Mr Ger Casey, GDA
The Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, T.D., recently visited the Grangegorman development site in Dublin 7 to review the progress on the development of the new Primary Care Centre there. Once completed the new centre will form part of the Urban Quarter of the redeveloped 73 acre Grangegorman site.
Minister for Health Leo Varadkar said: “This is a fantastic facility for local residents, providing an extensive range of integrated services, all in the same building including GP surgeries, physiotherapy, occupational and speech & language therapy, social work, psychology and mental health teams. Only recently a new centre opened on the Navan Road and another is under construction in Corduff and will open next year. These new primary care centres join over 40 locations already across the country opened since 2011, with another 30 underway. Of these 14 will be delivered by PPP and will receive funding from the European Investment Bank, the first time the Bank has invested in health care infrastructure in Ireland. Primary Care Centre developments, such as this new facility at Grangegorman, will allow patients to have treatment close to home and will also help to reduce unnecessary acute hospital admissions. It will be of great benefit to both the younger and older members of our community and will result in better health outcomes for all.”
The centre will accommodate the Grangegorman Primary Care and Cabra East Primary Care teams along with a range of other health and social care network services that will serve the population living in a wide area of the North West Inner City. The two primary care teams will provide services such as nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, psychology, social work, nutrition and dietetic services. In addition the centre will accommodate over 10 GP clinics, the regional HSE Ophthalmology Eye Clinic and two Child and Adolescent Mental Health Teams.
Speaking about the development Des O’ Flynn, HSE Area Manager Dublin North City said: “once completed the Grangegorman Primary Care Centre will significantly improve the community health facilities within the area, it will ensure that we can move services that are currently located in a number of old health centres into one modern purpose built centre. This will greatly improve the range and integration between all community health services within the local area.”
The project is being delivered for the HSE by the Grangegorman Development Agency, the statutory body responsible for the development of all facilities on the Grangegorman site.
Michael Hand, CEO of the Grangegorman Development Agency was keen to emphasise the importance of the contract for the campus as a whole: “Following on from the completion of the Phoenix Care Centre in 2013, the Primary Care Centre is the second major healthcare contract to be delivered under the Grangegorman Masterplan. The re-use of the old Laundry as part of the new centre will ensure that the local community can regularly visit and appreciate this magnificent building. In particular it will add character while becoming a useful reference point for the public at large.”
In total the building area is approximately 3,700 sq m and the cost of the project is €12m. The new centre incorporates one of the listed structures – the Laundry Building. Bourke Builders Ltd undertook the initial works to this structure last year, clearing out, stabilising and repairing the roof of this historic building in preparation for the main construction works. L & M Keating Ltd was awarded the contract for the build and commenced on site in May 2015. Between the new structure and the former laundry building is a glazed entrance area with the main reception. The glazed link will allow access to the new primary care centre both from the north (Grangegorman Road Upper), and the south (Ivy Avenue within the campus). It is anticipated that all works will be completed, with the building fitted out and the new centre open to the public by the end of 2016.
The Primary Care Centre is the second of the HSE’s buildings to be constructed as part of the redevelopment of the original St Brendan’s Hospital site in Grangegorman. In 2013, the award winning Phoenix Care Centre opened providing 54 beds for the HSE Mental Health Service and was the first new build of the Grangegorman Project. Further developments at Grangegorman for the HSE under the Masterplan are at feasibility stages.
