The former Managing Director of Allergan Ireland Colam O’Neill has been appointed as a non-executive director to the board of the hospital group for the West/North West.
Mr O’Neill’s appointment has been approved by the Minister for Health, Dr James Reilly along with two other new non-executive directors.
Joining Mr O’Neill on the hospital board are Sharon Moohan and Gerry McManus. The remaining members of the board include executive members Bill Maher, CEO of the group; Dr Pat Nash, group clinical director; Colette Cowan, group director of nursing and midwifery; Maurice Power, group CFO and non executive members Dr Jim Browne; Dr Brendan Day; Zubair Javeed; Dr John Killeen and Phyllis MacNamara.
Mr Noel Daly, chair of the hospital group commented: “I am delighted to welcome the three new members to our board. All have extensive experience in areas that are extremely relevant to the successful development of our hospital group including IT, pharmaceuticals/medical devices and commercial law.
“In May Minister Reilly announced the composition of the new hospital groups, which he described as the most fundamental reform of the Irish acute hospital system in decades. We have been given three years to develop the future of the hospital group for the West/North West and have it ready to achieve Trust status. This huge challenge is the next step in becoming an independent body. We are very fortunate to have commitment from people with so much experience to be part of our board in these non-salaried roles.”
The remit of the board is to develop effective corporate and clinical governance structures for the group along with quality and safety systems of care for patients.
During Mr O’Neill’s 28 years continuous service to Allergan in Westport the company expanded from five employees to 1,100. He also had responsibility for European operations including plants in Spain and France. He ensured during his tenure that Westport became the location of choice within Allergan’s global network for new products in late stage research and development and production.
Mr O’Neill has major competencies in customer care, regulatory compliance and is stringent on cost models and budgetary control. He was also a member of the board of directors of Allergan Ireland Ltd and has a lot of experience in working with the Irish Medicine Board, the FDA and the European Regulatory Body.
