It has been developed as a contingency facility.
A collaboration between the University of Limerick and UL Hospitals Group has led to the opening of a 68-bed field hospital on the grounds of UL campus.
The UL Hospitals Group Intermediate Care Facility (ICF) located in the UL Sport Arena was opened on Monday and is a fully staffed and fully equipped Model One hospital facility.
It will provide care for non-Covid patients who are fit for discharge from any of the acute hospitals in UL Hospitals Group, but who would benefit from further rehabilitation, or may be waiting to go into long term care.
It will also provide care for Covid patients who are no longer infectious and need more time to recuperate.
The 68-bed facility, with capacity to scale up to 84 beds, is laid out in partitioned wards, and is fitted out with a typical ward support accommodation such as clean and dirty utilities, pharmacy, pantry, staff change, clinical treatment areas, two recreation areas, and four enclosed rooms.
It has been developed as a contingency facility, and a solution to the crowding challenges experienced in the region’s hospitals during the pandemic.
“This facility will mean that the people of our region can rest assured that contingency capacity is now in place to support UL Hospitals Group, either in the case of the general capacity issues or indeed in the case of a second surge of Covid-19,” Professor Paul Burke, Chief Academic Officer at UL Hospitals Group said.
The facility is expected to be in place until at least September with an option to extend until November.
“Unfortunately we are not going to be in a position to use our Arena facility in the way in which we normally would during Semester 1 of our next academic year,” UL President Dr Des Fitzgerald said.
“Repurposing the Arena as a care facility allows UL to remain at the centre of our region’s response to this pandemic.”
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