Plans are in the pipeline to build a new 40 bed community nursing unit in Clifden. A planning application has been submitted by the HSE's Community Healthcare West (CHW ) organisation to the Galway County Council regarding the proposed facility.
The new build will replace the existing St Anne's Community Nursing Unit and Clifden District Hospital. The project has been part of the HSE's capital plans for some time and the project is now progressing though the design stages. It is expected that it will be ready to go to tender later in 2024, subject to planning.
The scheme includes a mix of dementia, short-stay, and long-stay bed accommodation and will consist of:-
A two-storey courtyard building, rectangular in plan, containing 38 single bedrooms with en suites and one twin room with an en suite, along with support accommodation: sitting and activity rooms, day spaces, sanitary accommodation, pantries, stores, stairs and lifts, roof top plant, and roof mounted solar photovoltaic panels.
Two-storey support wing containing production kitchen, staff changing, family accommodation, stair and lift, plant rooms, screened roof plant areas, and roof mounted solar photovoltaic panels.
As part of the development, the existing St Anne's will be reconfigured to provide administrative areas, staff changing, resident support areas, and a day hospital containing day room, reflection room, hairdressing, physiotherapy areas, clinic rooms, and associated support areas.
A spokesperson for Community Healthcare West said the unit will serve the people of Clifden and its hinterlands with a modern, fit-for-purpose facility while ensuring the excellent care provided in St Anne's and Clifden District Hospital can be maintained into the future.
