Sod Turning Ceremony for Roscommon Hospice.
The sod was officially turned for the new Roscommon Hospice on Friday afternoon January 10th 2020.
The 8-bed inpatient unit with full day-care facilities will take approximately 14 months to construct, with the build due to start in February. It will cost an estimated €6m to complete.
The Roscommon Hospice will be located on a site known as Hannon’s Field locally and is adjacent to Roscommon University Hospital.
This is another historic development for Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation and comes just months after the official launch of the Mayo Hospice in Castlebar.
Martina Jennings CEO of Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation said: ‘Today is another milestone for the people of Mayo and Roscommon, who have fundraised for over 26 years to help build our two Hospices and provide our community palliative care services. The Roscommon Hospice will be another testament to the hard work they have done and continue to do for us.’
We built our Mayo Hospice with €9m of 100% fundraised income and we intend to do the same with the Roscommon Hospice. We want to thank Tony Canavan, CEO Saolta University Health Care Group and his staff, Mary Garvey General Manager of Roscommon University Hospital and her staff and all the community services for their support for this project.’
Chairperson of Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation Joanne Hynes told the large crowd assembled for Friday’s ceremony: ‘This is another hugely proud day for me as Chairperson of the Foundation, as we turn the sod of the Roscommon Hospice. 2019 was a huge year for the Hospice, with the launch of the Mayo Hospice, with 2020 set to follow in its footsteps with the construction of our specialised unit in Roscommon.’
‘Today is another day where our volunteers and fundraisers should be immensely proud, because were it not for them, we would not be standing here today.’
Sean Mulryan, speaking at today’s ceremony said: ‘I am delighted to be a supporter of such a much-needed service for the people of Roscommon”
Saolta Group CEO Tony Canavan said, “On behalf of the Saolta Group I would like to pay tribute to Mayo Roscommon Hospice, including all those volunteers for their hard work, commitment and determination to ensure that this vitally important facility is developed. We in the Saolta Group and more particularly Roscommon University Hospital will work in partnership with Roscommon Hospice to ensure that it is developed to the highest standard to enable it provide the necessary care to the people of Roscommon and beyond who will use its services”.
General Manager of Roscommon University Hospital Mary Garvey said: ‘We owe a great debt of gratitude to Mayo Roscommon Hospice Foundation and to all their supporters who have tirelessly fundraised to make this project a reality. I want to thank everyone in the Hospice Foundation and all of my colleagues in the HSE who worked on the business plan to get the operational funding approved. We are excited to work with the Hospice Foundation on the development of the facility which will make an immense difference to patients and their families.’
