{"id":521863,"date":"2026-06-27T22:57:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T22:57:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/521863\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T22:57:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T22:57:39","slug":"health-insurance-income-reduction-continues-to-be-a-challenge-for-rehabilitation-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/521863\/","title":{"rendered":"Health insurance income reduction ‘continues to be a challenge’ for rehabilitation hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

A reduction in health insurance income \u201ccontinues to be a challenge\u201d for a rehabilitation hospital in Dublin as it faces a growing demand for this care, its annual report shows.<\/p>\n

Clontarf Hospital marked 150 years this week since its founder began caring for children with rickets and knock-knee at his home.<\/p>\n

It now offers rehabilitation to adults only taking patients from a number of hospitals.<\/p>\n

Some of those patients can avoid waiting lists for the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire where waits can reach 10 months for high dependency programmes.<\/p>\n

The average wait for a place at the NRH is now four months.<\/p>\n

\"PicturedPictured at a special event celebrating Clontarf Hospital\u2019s 150th anniversary were Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. Picture: Marc O\u2019Sullivan<\/p>\n

Dr Geraldine Regan, chair of the Clontarf Hospital board, said the staff\u2019s work last year meant \u201cmany individuals have successfully reclaimed their lives after life-altering injuries, illness and frailty.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The hospital is about \u201crestoring hope and independence\u201d to its patients, she added.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinancially the hospital remains prudent although the reduction in VHI income continues to be a challenge for the hospital consistent with other hospitals,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Income from charitable activities was also slightly down at \u20ac27,588,704 last year compared to \u20ac26,364,616 the year before.<\/p>\n

Chief executive Lorraine Kennedey said: \u201cThe need for specialist rehabilitation has never been greater.<\/p>\n

\n People are living longer, surviving more complex illnesses and recovering from injuries that would once have been life-limiting.\u201d\u00a0\n <\/p>\n

The hospital saw a 22% jump in admissions in five years and a 29% increase in bed days used, she added.<\/p>\n

It saw 1,573 patients last year with 152 beds in use. The average stay was 31.2 days.<\/p>\n

\"PicturedPictured at a special event celebrating Clontarf Hospital\u2019s 150th anniversary were Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and staff. Picture: Marc O\u2019Sullivan<\/p>\n

Patients included 22 admitted on a specialist programme with neurorehabilitation and other care for adults with life-changing injuries from the Mater Major Trauma Centre.<\/p>\n

Another 130 patients were transferred from Beaumont Hospital for support including amputee rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

A number of hospitals sent 630 patients between them for orthopedic rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

It also offer help for older patients through the ICPOP system (integrated care programme for older persons).<\/p>\n

One group saw the time it took someone to stand up from a seated position reduce by 22.44 seconds on average during treatment.<\/p>\n

Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill attended the anniversary event.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday (Clontarf Hospital) is a vital part of our health service, delivering specialist rehabilitation that not only improves outcomes for patients but also supports patient flow across our acute hospital network,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hospital\u2019s consultant-led, multidisciplinary teams are helping people recover sooner, return home earlier and participate more fully in family, community and working life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr Robert Lafayette Swan began treating children at his home on Usher Island in 1876 and over the years this work re-located several times before settling in Clontarf in north Dublin in 1942.<\/p>\n

In Cork and Kerry the HSE Southwest is developing a rehabilitation centre in Blarney, this is already open for older patients.<\/p>\n

It expects to have 50 beds for patients of all ages open by the end of this year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A reduction in health insurance income \u201ccontinues to be a challenge\u201d for a rehabilitation hospital in Dublin as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[103,4892,61,60],"class_list":["post-521863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-health-news","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}