{"id":741150,"date":"2026-06-16T23:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T23:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/741150\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T23:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T23:27:09","slug":"developer-offers-to-build-public-hospital-for-hse-in-limerick-within-seven-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/741150\/","title":{"rendered":"Developer offers to build public hospital for HSE in Limerick within seven years"},"content":{"rendered":"

A developer has offered to build a public hospital for the HSE in Limerick<\/a> within five to seven years amid growing concerns at the slow pace of State plans to do so.<\/p>\n

WhiteBox Developments is already building a cancer unit, housing, and other facilities in a different area at Ballygrennan regeneration complex near the city.<\/p>\n

It presented a plan to a meeting of Limerick City and County Council on Monday for further expanding this work to include a hospital.<\/p>\n

It said it was \u201ca unique opportunity\u201d to privately deliver a public hospital for the region.<\/p>\n

WhiteBox managing\u2004director\u2004Martin White said the site is supported \u201cby transport infrastructure,\u2004integrated healthcare facilities,\u2004housing for healthcare workers,\u2004and substantial\u2004private\u2004investment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He claimed the hospital could be delivered \u201con an accelerated timeline\u201d in comparison to the State\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will help address\u2004a critical\u2004regional healthcare need\u2004far sooner than\u2004traditional approaches,\u201d said Mr White.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have\u2004made\u2004a submission in relation to\u2004this option to\u2004the\u2004HSE and\u2004are\u2004keen to enter into discussions on\u2004this with\u2004a view to providing a key and accelerated solution to\u2004the\u2004Mid-West region’s\u2004healthcare needs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"WhiteBoxWhiteBox Developments said it was ‘a unique opportunity’ to privately deliver a public hospital for the region.<\/p>\n

The cancer unit is on target to open by December. It is being built in partnership with private healthcare groups UPMC and Bon Secours. The site will also have 115 homes by 2028.<\/p>\n

Mr White stressed that the new plans are not for a private hospital, saying it would be a \u201ca\u2004privately delivered\u2004public hospital that\u2004could\u2004provide desperately needed beds for the\u2004Mid-West within five\u2004to seven\u2004years”.<\/p>\n

The phased plan would include a maternity unit and research department.\u00a0<\/p>\n

HSE Mid West and Limerick council were approached for comment.<\/p>\n

Uncertainty over State plans<\/p>\n

It comes against a backdrop of uncertainty over the State\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n

In March health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill announced a site was bought at Raheen near UHL. She expected an initial report from a project board by September.<\/p>\n

A department spokesman said on Tuesday: \u201cThe minister is actively considering the make-up of the board, which will be established at the earliest opportunity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The board will develop a \u201ccomprehensive strategic plan for the organisation of services and investment in the Mid-West\u201d.<\/p>\n

Last year, Hiqa warned the Government of serious risks to patient safety at University Hospital Limerick linked to severe overcrowding, calling for urgent action.<\/p>\n

The warning followed the death of Clare teenager Aoife Johnston<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n Hiqa had proposed<\/a> to expand existing services, extend UHL care to a nearby site with shared management, and to build a new hospital at Model 3 level with an additional emergency department.<\/p>\n

Ms Carroll MacNeill said she would act on a blended version of the three options.<\/p>\n

The spokesman said on Tuesday: \u201cThe Raheen site is not intended to replace the UHL Dooradoyle site but to extend the capacity of the hospital across the two sites in line with the Hiqa recommendation under Option B.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Plans are also being examined by the HSE to further expand care at Ennis and Nenagh hospitals. Contracts for another 96-bed block at UHL \u201care expected to be awarded shortly\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A developer has offered to build a public hospital for the HSE in Limerick within five to seven…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":741151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[357469,64,63,137,3726,500,3945],"class_list":["post-741150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-limerick-news","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health","tag-health-news","tag-healthcare","tag-hse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=741150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/741150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/741151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=741150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=741150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=741150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}