On a quiet stretch of Galway’s Ballymoneen Road, patients are arriving for MRI scans just minutes from their homes rather than making the familiar journey across a congested city to one of the region’s major hospitals. It is a small change in geography, but one that reflects a much bigger ambition.
For Mark Sheehan, Chief Executive Officer of Quantum Polyclinic, the new centre in Knocknacarra is not simply another healthcare facility. It is the first step in a vision to reshape how healthcare is delivered in Ireland—bringing consultant-led diagnostics, technology and specialist care out of large acute hospitals and into modern community-based centres where patients can access treatment more quickly, more conveniently and at a lower cost.
It is also the latest chapter in one of the most influential stories in Irish private healthcare.
Few families have left a greater mark on the sector than the Sheehans. Over four decades, Dr James Sheehan and his wife Rosemary helped redefine private medicine in Ireland through the development of pioneering institutions including the Blackrock Clinic and the Galway Clinic. Their willingness to challenge convention transformed healthcare delivery at a time when private medicine in Ireland was still finding its identity. Rosemary, sadly passed away in 2018, but her legacy still stands tall.
The evening before we meet, the family had gathered to celebrate Dr James Sheehan’s 87th birthday. Retirement, however, is not a word that features prominently in the Sheehan vocabulary.
“He’s still driving the ship,” Mark says with a smile. “People shouldn’t be under any illusion about that. He’s the visionary, and I’m incredibly fortunate to be working alongside him again.”
It is a comment delivered with genuine admiration rather than sentimentality. Having spent almost two decades working alongside his father at the Galway Clinic, Mark has witnessed first-hand the combination of ambition, persistence and innovation that established some of Ireland’s most significant healthcare institutions. Today, as Medical Director of Quantum Polyclinic, Dr James Sheehan continues to play a central strategic role—from shaping clinical standards to negotiating with Ireland’s major health insurers.
For Mark, however, Quantum is more than a continuation of the family legacy. It is an opportunity to rethink healthcare for a generation of patients whose expectations have fundamentally changed. People now expect healthcare to be accessible, digitally connected, efficient and delivered closer to where they live. In many respects, he believes the traditional hospital model was never designed for the growing demand now being placed upon it.
“Our philosophy has always been very simple,” he says. “Look after the patient, and everything else looks after itself.”
That philosophy continues to guide every decision made at Quantum Polyclinic, from investing in artificial intelligence-assisted imaging to designing patient pathways that allow appointments to be booked online, reports delivered rapidly and unnecessary hospital visits eliminated wherever possible.
For Mark Sheehan, innovation has never been about technology for technology’s sake. It is about using the best available tools to create something healthcare has often struggled to deliver—an experience that is not only clinically excellent, but genuinely centred on the patient.
For someone who has spent almost twenty years working in healthcare, Mark Sheehan speaks less about buildings or technology than he does about experience. The most sophisticated scanner, he believes, means little if the patient leaves feeling anxious, confused or overlooked.
“Technology is expected,” he says. “Patients assume the scanner will work and that the software is excellent. What they’ll actually remember is how we made them feel. Did they feel listened to? Were they comfortable? Did they have confidence in the people looking after them? That’s what matters.”
Philosophy
It is a philosophy inherited directly from his parents. Growing up around hospitals and later working alongside his father at the Galway Clinic, he witnessed first-hand how clinical excellence and compassionate care could exist side by side. While the Sheehan name has become synonymous with innovation in Irish healthcare, Mark is quick to point out that every major decision has always begun with a simple question: how will this improve the patient’s journey?
“In healthcare we’ve traditionally asked patients to fit around the system,” he says. “We’re trying to turn that around and make the system fit around the patient.”
That thinking has shaped almost every aspect of Quantum Polyclinic. Appointments can be booked online, patients receive rapid access to diagnostic imaging, and reports are returned with exceptional speed. While the clinic promises results within 24 hours, many patients receive their reports the very same day.
“It shouldn’t be complicated,” Mark says. “People manage their banking, book flights and organise their lives digitally. Healthcare should be just as straightforward.”
It is a deceptively simple observation, yet one that reflects a broader shift taking place across healthcare worldwide. Patients increasingly expect convenience, transparency and speed, without compromising clinical standards.
Those expectations are also driving the clinic’s investment in digital technology and artificial intelligence.
Few subjects generate as much discussion in modern medicine as AI, but Mark approaches it with measured optimism rather than hype.
“It’s not that AI is good or bad,” he explains. “Like any technology, it’s about how you use it.”
Quantum has invested significantly in advanced AI software integrated into its MRI systems. Much of that technology works quietly in the background, enhancing image quality and assisting radiologists in producing more accurate diagnoses.
“The AI is already there,” he says. “Patients may never see it, but it’s helping produce clearer images, making life easier for radiologists and ultimately improving patient care.”
He points to international evidence, including Australia’s national breast screening programme, where AI-assisted interpretation is already improving diagnostic accuracy when combined with expert clinical review.
Far from replacing clinicians, Mark believes artificial intelligence will become another trusted member of the healthcare team.
“There simply aren’t enough radiologists anywhere in the world. AI will become another tool that helps highly trained specialists make even better decisions. I don’t see it replacing them—I see it strengthening what they already do.”
Rethinking
Technology, however, is only one pillar of Quantum’s long-term vision.
The larger ambition is to rethink where healthcare is delivered.
For decades, Irish healthcare has revolved around large acute hospitals. While those hospitals remain indispensable for complex surgery, cancer care and emergency medicine, Mark believes many routine investigations and day procedures can be provided more effectively in purpose-built community facilities.
The inspiration comes from Singapore’s internationally acclaimed polyclinic model, where consultant-led multidisciplinary centres provide comprehensive care closer to where people live.
“A lot of healthcare simply doesn’t need to happen in a hospital,” he says. “It can happen safely in the community, with specialist consultants, modern facilities and a much better experience for patients.”
That philosophy explains why Quantum chose Knocknacarra.
West Galway city has experienced sustained population growth over the past two decades, yet many residents still find themselves travelling across the city for relatively straightforward diagnostic appointments. With Galway’s traffic congestion becoming an increasingly familiar frustration, reducing unnecessary travel has become a healthcare issue as much as a transport one.
“The biggest reason we’re here is actually the river,” Mark laughs. “People spend far too much time crossing Galway for services that could be available on their doorstep.”
The current diagnostic centre represents only the beginning.
Phase Two will introduce consultant-led minor procedures performed under local anaesthetic, while plans are already advancing for a larger multi-storey polyclinic on the adjoining site. The completed development will bring together diagnostics, specialist consultations and day-care procedures within a single integrated campus.
For Mark, it represents a model capable of relieving pressure on Ireland’s hospital system while improving access for patients and reducing costs for insurers alike.
“Let hospitals concentrate on the work that only hospitals can do,” he says. “If we can safely provide diagnostics and day procedures in the community, everybody benefits—especially the patient.”
The economics are compelling. MRI scans that once cost well over €1,000 can now be delivered for a fraction of that cost, while agreements with Ireland’s leading health insurers ensure many patients can access services without additional financial burden.
Yet despite the scale of the ambition, Mark remains remarkably grounded.
He speaks enthusiastically about new buildings, digital innovation and expansion plans, but always returns to the same point: people.
“My job isn’t to read MRI scans or perform procedures,” he says. “My job is to give outstanding clinicians the tools, the environment and the culture they need to do their very best work.”
It is perhaps the clearest reflection of the Sheehan legacy. Across four decades, their greatest contribution has not simply been the hospitals they built or the technology they introduced, but the belief that healthcare can always be improved through vision, innovation and an unwavering focus on the patient.
As Quantum Polyclinic begins its journey in Galway, Mark Sheehan is not seeking to replicate the past. Instead, he is building on it—creating a new model of Irish healthcare that combines the experience of one generation with the possibilities of the next.
For one of Ireland’s best-known healthcare families, the story, it seems, is only entering its next chapter.
