OUR Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co Louth, is to be transferred to the ownership of the North Eastern Health Board, following a £5.5 million deal.
Negotiations for the sale of the hospital by the Medical Missionaries of Mary to the board began last November. Yesterday, the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, announced that the Government had agreed to the purchase.
He pointed out that it was "the first transfer of a major acute hospital from the voluntary to the health board sector," and as such represented "an important milestone in the history of the health services".
Mr Noonan acknowledged the major contribution made by the nuns to the provision of acute hospital care in the north-east region, since Our Lady of Lourdes was established in 1939. He also paid tribute to the hospital's record in training medical and nursing staff.
Permanent staff at the hospital have received full guarantees concerning their existing terms and conditions of service.
