Healthy celebrations at Connolly

IT WAS all good news at Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown on April 21 during a special celebration to mark its 60th anniversary.

Local TDs, Tánaiste Joan Burton, and Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, took turns to pay tribute to staff and highlight new developments coming on stream over the coming months and years.

The hospital’s history dates back to 1948 when then Minister for Health, Noel Browne, gave the green light for sanatoria in Blanchardstown, Galway and Cork to combat the spread of TB.

The land for Blanchardstown was acquired by Compulsory Purchase Order from Baron Holmpatrick of Abbotstown House, and Sisk Builders got the contract to build the £1.5 million Dublin Regional Sanatorium.

The treatment for TB in those days consisted of rest, nutritious food and fresh air and Blanchardstown’s countryside setting just outside the capital made it an ideal location.

The arrival of antibiotics in the

’60s and

’70s signalled the end of TB as a serious health threat and the Dublin Regional Sanatorium began its transformation into what it is now.

It became the James Connolly General Hospital in 1971 and in 2005, the new hospital building was officially opened and renamed as Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown.

Connolly is now a Level 3 hospital within the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) Hospital Group.

Speaking at the anniversary event Chairperson of RCSI Hospitals Group, Anne Maher, said Connolly has a proud past, and an exciting future.

“The Hospital Group has many plans for Connolly in terms of developing the Estate and also the services provided,

? she said.

“Developments already announced include the building of a satellite of the new National Children’s Hospital at Connolly.

“Over the next few years Connolly will be a key part of our overall group strategy.

?

While the 60th anniversary celebrations recalled the hospital’s history, the Tánaiste also used the event to look forward to the future.

“For six decades, Connolly Hospital has successfully evolved and grown to meet the needs of the people in Dublin 15 and the surrounding areas,

? she said.

“Under this Government, we are supporting key developments for the hospital. This year, work has commenced on the upgrading of the existing radiology department.

“Funding has been provided for a new 100-bed nursing unit on the grounds of the hospital, and we look forward to the development of specialist facilities for children.

?

Minister Varadkar, who worked at Connolly back in 2004 and 2005, heaped praise on hospital staff during the anniversary event.

“This is a very special occasion to pay tribute to all of the men and women who have worked here over the past 60 years, the 900 staff working here today and the thousands who went before us, the medical staff, the porters and cleaners, medical scientists, management, nurses, therapists and all the support staff,

? he said.

“I also think there is enormous potential for the RCSI Group to exploit Connolly’s land bank and location to develop a major healthcare campus here for the Group combining medical and academic facilities with industry, research and life sciences.

?