The new €75 million Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) was hailed as a world class facility by Minister for Health Mary Harney yesterday as she officially opened it with warm words of praise for staff and management.
Ms Harney paid tribute to the manner in which they had achieved the transfer and merger of maternity services from the public Erinville and St Finbarr's hospitals and the private Bon Secours hospital earlier this year.
"This is a marvellous day for Cork - it's a world class facility like none other in Europe," said Ms Harney as she and HSE chief executive Prof Brendan Drumm congratulated HSE South on the new facility, which has a full staff complement of 664.
The new hospital comprises 144 maternity beds, including six for women who experience difficulties during pregnancy or just after birth, with the beds being divided into 36 single wards, 38 double wards and eight four-bed wards, The hospital, which is designed to cater for about 7,500 births annually, also includes a 46-cot newborn intensive and special care unit and 12 individual labour rooms, including a home-from-home room for those who want a less clinical birth.
The opening of the hospital last March had to be delayed after members of the Irish Nurses' Organisation voted initially against a move over concerns about insufficient staffing levels, but the HSE yesterday insisted that the internationally recommended figure of 376 midwives was being reached.
"CUMH has an approved budget of 376 whole time equivalent [ WTE] midwifery/nursing positions and there are currently 362 midwifery/nursing staff to deliver maternity care, and recruitment is actively being managed to achieve a full complement of 376 WTE," said a HSE spokesman.
Consultant obstetrician gynaecologist Prof John Higgins said one of the most exciting aspects of the hospital was that it was equipped to play an important role in educating medical staff, which is key to the delivery of high standard clinical care for mothers and babies.
HSE southern hospitals group network manager Gerry O'Dwyer said that one of the great benefits of the hospital to women and their babies was the fact that the hospital has the back-up of acute medical services from the adjacent Cork University Hospital.
Cork University Hospital group general manager Tony McNamara said that the hospital was built on time and within budget, with some €55 million being spent on the building itself and a further €20 million invested in the purchase of equipment.