€8.5m. investment approved for Mayo primary care centre expansion

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has approved an investment of €8.5 million in the Castlebar Primary Care Centre at Drumconlon, Moneen, in the town.

The news has been confirmed to Councillor Blackie Gavin.

The proposal will now go to tender with work expected to start later this year.

It will increase the floor space by 3,500 square metres and create 70 additional jobs.

When completed, it will result in the transfer of number of services from the County Clinic at Westport Road to the Moneen complex.

They include the community medical apartment, school medical department, ophthalmology department, community intervention team and the child health development officer.

A number of other services will also move to Moneen from St. Mary's HQ in Castlebar in order to allow front line services to be delivered from an accessible building in line with national standards.

These services are immunisation, speech and language therapy, paediatric occupational therapy, audiology department and psychology services.

The extended primary care centre will also cater for specialised integrated teams for cardiac, diabetes and respiratory conditions, specialised integrated care team for older people and the East Mayo community health network.

The new facility will have enhanced diagnostic capacity to include MRI and Dexa Service.

Stated Councillor Gavin: "The role of Castlebar man Frank Murphy, who retired recently as the HSE's primary care manager for the western region, in securing this investment was significant and he deserves credit for it.

"I have also worked closely with Deputy Dara Calleary and Senator Lisa Chambers in respect of the delivery of the project," added Councillor Gavin, a member of the HSE West Forum.