Mount Carmel Hospital in Dublin, which has been the birthplace of thousands of children over the years, is to be sold by the religious order which owns and runs it, it has emerged.
The Sisters of the Little Company of Mary have decided to sell the hospital as a fall-off in vocations to the order means they no longer have sufficient members to take an active interest in it.
However, the sisters said yesterday they wanted to see the institution, on Dublin's south side, continue as a hospital. They have engaged Prospectus Consultants to find a suitable buyer.
A spokesman for the sisters said the quality of the buyer would be more important to the religious order than the amount offered for it.
Staff at the hospital were informed of the plan yesterday.
A statement issued on behalf of the sisters said: "The decision to dispose of their interest in Mount Carmel Hospital has been reached following a strategic review and assessment of the options available.
"In the light of the age profile of the sisters and the lack of vocations in recent years, the congregation has concluded, with regret, that it no longer has the capability to continue to play an active role in the operation of such a major healthcare facility."
The statement added that they had decided "the hospital should continue as a going concern for general medicine and maternity services under a new hospital operator".
The hospital spokesman would not give details of the hospital's annual turnover or the amount expected for the property, which will be worth millions.
The hospital was established in 1949 and employs the equivalent of 350 full-time staff and has 150 beds. Some €15 million was recently spent on upgrading its facilities, including the commissioning of a new daycare centre.
Last year 15,866 patients were admitted to the hospital.
The hospital spokesman said the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary were confident that Mount Carmel, under new ownership, "will continue to play an important role in meeting the healthcare needs of the community and will provide uninterrupted quality medical and nursing care to its current and future patients".
The sisters will now focus on their other activities. In particular, they now wish to concentrate on continuing to provide care for older people, care in the community and their hospice and homecare services.