€2m investment in 90 bed Community Nursing Unit at Carrick-on-Shannon

Investment of €29 million to Sligo and Leitrim, as part of a €1.3 billion allocation nationally for the development and enhancement of healthcare infrastructure has been announced as part of the Health Service Executive’s Building and Equipment Capital Plan for 2026. 

The funding will include a €2m investment in a 90 bed Community Nursing Unit at Carrick-on-Shannon.

Sligo/Leitrim Minister Frank Feighan said, “Today’s announcement, including a further €2m investment in the 90 bed Community Nursing Unit at Carrick-on-Shannon, is welcome news that will help bring healthcare services closer to home and better meet the needs of patients and families in our community.”

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Work on new the Community Hospital located at Ballynamony Road, Carrick on Shannon has commenced and is expected to be completed in Q1 2027.

It has a contract construction value in excess of €38m and will contain 90 beds facilitating long stay, short stay and dementia wards as well as a designated rehabilitation facility on Level 2.

The design of the Community Hospital aims to create a person-centred approach which supports the opportunity for older people to continue to direct their own lives in accordance with their cognitive and physical abilities, and in an environment which reflects the comforts of home.

This will be done by the creation of households within the overall centre.

Each long stay household will have 23 en-suite single bedrooms and 1 en-suite twin bedroom, a total of 25 residents and the short stay household will accommodate 20 residents in 20 en-suite single bedrooms.

Each household will have their own dayroom, dining room and kitchen area at the centre of the home.

In each household, there will be one dayroom/sun room and one shared dining room that can be compartmentalized, and which can open out to the gardens.

There will also be a quiet room for reading, reflection or meeting with visitors which can also open out to the outdoor space.

There will be 20 dementia-specific assessment beds, to be accommodated on the ground floor in two 10 bedded households. The design of each household will support the continued engagement of residents living with dementia in meaningful person centred activities, and residents will be afforded access to a secure, therapeutic, landscaped courtyard.