Paul Cullen, Health Correspondent
A 120-bed facility is to be built on the site of the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire after planning permission for the redevelopment of the site was granted by An Bord Pleanála.
The hospital is the first major healthcare project to be granted planning approval through the fast-track strategic infrastructural development process.
The development, a partnership between the HSE and the hospital foundation, will see the existing ward accommodation replaced by a new facility that include integrated therapy services for patients requiring complex rehabilitation.
The new hospital is expected to be ready in 2017, but services will continue at the existing level while the development is ongoing.
Commenting on the plans for the new hospital, Dr Jacinta McElligott, chairwoman of the NRH medical board, said: “This new building will enable us to achieve our goals of helping patients return to the highest level of function and independence possible, while improving the overall quality of life - physically, emotionally, and socially”.
The NRH is the only dedicated hospital in the State providing specialist rehabilitation services for people who are disabled through accident, injury or illness. Its specialisms include the treatment of patients with brain injury and spinal cord injury, as well as those who have lost limbs.
