A COMPENSATION claim taken by an order of nuns which run a hospital in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, against the Voluntary Health Insurance board was settled in the High Court yesterday.
The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.
In the Supreme Court three years ago, the St Francis Medical Centre, owned by the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady, won a long running legal battle against the VHI. That court decided the case should go back to the High Court to assess the nuns' claim for damages against the insurance board.
Yesterday Mr Patrick Keane SC, for the hospital trustees, told Mr Justice Moriarty on the third day of the hearing the case had been settled and asked the judge to make an order striking out the proceedings.
Mr Keane said he wished to say on behalf of his client and with the agreement of counsel for the VHI that St Francis Medical Centre and the board of the VHI were happy to announce they had amicably resolved their differences and looked forward to a harmonious relationship in the future.
Mr Justice Moriarty said he was glad both parties, who each played a role in caring for the sick, had resolved their differences.
In their action, the nuns had claimed more than Pounds 8 million in compensation against the VHI as a result of the board's decision to refuse cover to anyone who attended the hospital in 1991, the same year they instituted legal proceedings against the board.
The hospital was allowed partial participation in the VHI's scheme in May 1993 and was given full participation in September 1994.
In their initial High Court claim for loss and damage, the nuns alleged that because of the VHI's breach of duty the hospital had had to endure "great stress and strain" in attempting to pay its debts.