23 July 2025
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
TD John Paul O’Shea welcomes Minister for Health Carroll MacNeill to Kanturk, Millstreet, and Macroom
Today Minister for Health Carroll MacNeill visited newly developed HSE South West facilities in Cork. Cork North West Fine Gael TD John Paul O’Shea and the Minister visited new extensions at Kanturk Community Hospital and Millstreet Community Hospital where further construction work is currently underway on the old hospital building. The Minister concluded her visit at Macroom Community Hospital where she confirmed that HIQA have approved for the registration of the refurbished old hospital building enabling the opening of new beds on a phased basis in the coming weeks.
Cork North West Fine Gael TD said “I was delighted to welcome the Minister for Health to Cork North West today. She saw first hand the care provided to the residents in Kanturk, Millstreet & Macroom Community Hospitals. The care provided by the staff in these facilities is second to none. It is their home for many of the residents and the facilities and care provided to them there is wonderful. I want to thank the Minister for the Government investment put into all these three Community Hospitals over recent years. Once completed, we will have three Community Hospitals we can be very proud of and future proofed.
Commenting on the visit, Minister MacNeill said “I am really pleased to visit Kanturk, Millstreet and Macroom Community hospitals today and to note HIQA’s confirmation of the registration of additional bed capacity at Macroom. Building capacity, both in terms of workforce and infrastructure,is essential to addressing Ireland’s long-term demographic challenges.
“Substantial public investment is being made in healthcare infrastructure to support the ambitions of Sláintecare, including over €50 million allocated to the sites I visited today.
“The provision of high-quality, safe care and modern facilities for older persons is a key priority for me and for Minister for Older People, Kieran O’Donnell. We look forward to the completion of these developments and the delivery of full capacity as soon as possible.”
Welcoming the Minister to the South West Region, HSE South West Regional Executive Officer, Dr. Andy Phillips said; “in building a health service our community is proud of, we are investing in high quality services for our valued older persons. The development of new facilities in Kanturk, Millstreet and Macroom Community Hospitals shows our commitment to delivering the highest standard of care. I am honoured to welcome the Minister to County Cork today to discuss some of the opportunities we have in providing high quality care including virtual care for older persons in rural settings.”
Kanturk Community Hospital
Kanturk Community Hospital is a 43 bed, designated centre for older persons, currently registered to accommodate a maximum of 29 residents due to refurbishment. The hospital has recently undergone significant extension and refurbishment works (Circa € 21.6m) to comply with regulatory requirements. Kanturk Community Hospital provides 24-hours nursing care to both male and female residents whose dependencies range from medium to maximum care needs. Long-term care, convalescence care, respite and palliative care is provided, mainly to older adults.
Following completion of a new extension at Kanturk Community Hospital, refurbishment works on the original building were undertaken to address regulatory requirements under SI 293. These refurbishment works are now substantially complete. The building has been handed over to the Service, this will enable an application to Register the increased bed capacity to that of 43 beds be submitted to HIQA. Pending inspection and registration by HIQA, HSE South West will then proceed to opening the 43 beds, subject to adequate staffing levels being in place.
The 43 beds will be comprised of 33 long stay beds, 8 short stay beds and 2 palliative care beds.
Millstreet Community Hospital
Millstreet Community Hospital is a 26-bed hospital which is currently undergoing a significant refurbishment programme and is therefore, registered to accommodate 10 residents at this time. The hospital provides 24-hour nursing care to both male and female residents whose dependencies range from medium to maximum care needs. Long-term care, convalescence care, respite and palliative care is provided, mainly to older adults.
Following completion of a new extension at Millstreet Community Hospital, refurbishment works on the original building commenced in July 2025 to address regulatory requirements under SI 293. Extension and refurbishment (Circa € 14.6m) works were undertaken at Millstreet Community Hospital to comply with HIQA regulations and provide an enhanced environment for our residents.
Following attainment of registration, residents began moving into the new building during the week commencing Monday 26th May 2025. Staff at Millstreet Community Hospital supported residents from the existing building to move into their new accommodation which offers more privacy and a high standard of accommodation. The new extension contains 11 single en-suite rooms with beautiful social spaces for the residents to enjoy.
The HIQA registration currently contains a condition that limits new residents to the unit. We HSE South West is currently working with HIQA to remove this condition and plan to open 1 more bed in the new unit to accommodate respite admissions.
The next phase of the refurbishment work will see the front old building transformed to deliver more modern compliant accommodation for residents. Phase 2 has commenced since July 2025 with a planned completion in 9 months.
Macroom Community Hospital
Macroom Community Hospital is a 38 bed, community hospital. A significant programme of work has been undertaken to modernise and renovate the unit. Macroom Community Hospital provides 24-hour nursing care to both male and female residents whose dependencies range from medium to maximum care needs. Long-term care, convalescence care, respite and palliative care is provided.
Macroom Community Hospital had to undergo significant extension, and refurbishment works (Circa € 14.65m) in order to comply with HIQA regulations and facilitate a move away from the ‘open ward’ model to more private rooms. These essential works were necessary to provide an enhanced facility for the local community. The new hospital extension in Macroom was completed in 2022 and refurbishment works were then undertaken on the existing hospital.
These refurbishment works are completed and the application to vary had been approved by HIQA.
Once registration has been finalised, HSE South West will progress with relocating residents who had moved to the new extension back to the original building.