2013 Press Releases
UCC welcomes Waterford Hospital partnership
The President of University College Cork, Dr Michael Murphy, welcomes the publication yesterday of the “Establishment of Hospital Groups as a transition to Independent Hospital Trusts Report”.
University College Cork is committed to working enthusiastically with the Department of Health to ensure its full implementation.
University College Cork acknowledges the strong existing collaboration over many years with the voluntary and statutory hospitals in South Tipperary, Kerry and Cork and looks forward to building a new strategic alliance with all the acute hospitals in the new southern group that will deliver better and more effective clinical services for all people of the region and improved health education, research and innovation equal to the best international comparators.
University College Cork will ensure that Waterford Regional Hospital is upgraded to University Hospital Status. This move emphasises the close affiliation between Munster’s two cities and is an example of strategic collaboration of mutual benefit to both Cork and Waterford.
Waterford is a city of regional strategic importance to Ireland and in particular the South. The alignment of Cork, Waterford, Kerry and South Tipperary in the delivery of healthcare education and medical research will allow the development of shared infrastructure and expertise which will benefit the people of Waterford immediately.
As a clear example of this, UCC is committed to putting in place five academic clinical appointments including three at professorial level; two at senior lecturer level and one at tutor level with associated administrative support. Discussions within the new hospital group’s corporate governance structure and in turn with the Department of Health and the HSE will now commence to give effect to this. These posts will help support the current work being done by the excellent clinical team in Waterford and will also help to consolidate current teaching and research and contribute to the development of specialist clinical services the region requires.
UCC has extensive interest in the area of Health Research and Innovation. UCC is fully committed to including Waterford in its research and innovation agenda. The University is committed to working in collaboration, not only with colleagues in Waterford University Hospital, but also with our colleagues in Waterford Institute of Technology.
Commenting on the proposed realignment in the healthcare sector, Dr Michael Murphy, former Dean of Medicine and now President of UCC commented, “As we develop plans for greater synergies between UCC and WIT in the Higher Education Sector, we find that the proposals to link the hospitals of Waterford, Cork, South Tipperary and Kerry and the College of Medicine & Health at UCC, most welcome. Our Health College is probably the most comprehensive in the country. It is large in scale, with diverse disciplines mirroring today’s complex integrated healthcare teams. The University and its College of Medicine & Health enjoy a strong international reputation for teaching, research, innovation and the professional quality of its graduates. We look forward to working further with our colleagues in Waterford and believe that together we will achieve many future successes with our sister city.”
Ends
Read about the proposed hospital reforms:
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/a-visionary-plan-but-only-in-theory-231284.html