Lucy Nugent has been appointed as the new chief executive of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI), the organisation responsible for providing healthcare services to children and young people across the State.
The appointment comes following two senior resignations at CHI at a critical time as it prepares for the completion of the new national children’s hospital next year.
In a statement on Tuesday the board of CHI said Ms Nugent, who has been chief executive of Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) since 2019, will take up the role in January.
Ms Nugent joined TUH as chief operations officer in 2014, moving to the role of deputy chief executive in 2016. Before joining TUH, Ms Nugent worked in the acute hospitals division of the HSE as head of quality assurance and risk management.
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“Lucy also has extensive clinical and management experience in paediatrics, having worked in Children’s University Hospital Temple Street for over 10 years as clinical and patient services manager,” the board’s statement said. “Before that she held a number of nursing roles as both a registered children’s nurse and general nurse.”
It added: “We look forward to working with Lucy and wish her every success as CEO of Children’s Health Ireland.”
The role of CHI chief executive was vacant from last November after Eilish Hardiman went on medical leave. In January Fiona Murphy was appointed as acting chief executive and staff were told in April that Ms Hardiman had been reassigned to a new role of strategic programme director.
It emerged earlier this week that both the interim chief executive and interim deputy chief executive had resigned from their posts. Ms Murphy is understood to be taking up a new role in the private sector when she finishes up with CHI in February.
Separately, Stephen Flanagan, interim deputy chief executive, also resigned from his post.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly recently criticised the board of CHI for the delay in appointing a new chief executive.
Following two terms as chief executive, Ms Hardiman was appointed to another senior role in CHI which is responsible for running the hospital services for children. Mr Donnelly had maintained that it would be against Government policy to appoint a person for longer than 10 years as a chief executive in a State body.
A KPMG report on the operational readiness for CHI to move into the new national children’s hospital previously highlighted issues within the hospital group, including the lack of permanent senior management members – particularly a permanent chief executive.
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