Hospice upgrade to begin in May

Work on a new hospice for Cavan and Monaghan is due to begin before the second half of the year.

In conjunction with the HSE, the St Christopher’s Hospice facility, located at the Loreto Wood, is upgrading its services for the people of Cavan and Monaghan.

Sixteen beds will be installed in the new facility to provide residential care; while patients will also be able to receive day care services without having to travel long distances. The hospice will provide end of life and respite care.

With funding in place, the contractor is due to be finalised within the next two weeks. The committee hope to turn the sod on the project at the end of April with work due to begin at the beginning of May. It’s hoped to have it opened by early 2026.

“We have tenders in and we’re selecting the contractor from that,” said Jim Lalor, who is the chairperson of St Christopher’s Hospice.

“Between ourselves and the HSE, we have the funding for it,” he said, adding that “I don’t know what the exact figure will be yet.”

“It will have the full suite of services, the same as the top hospices in the country,” he continued. There will be consultant rooms, consultant surgeries, beauty salons, doctors, nurses, consultants and day services.

Mr Lalor said the committee has been “looking” to get the hospice for the area for “many many” years.

“We have a level two hospice at the moment but we’ve had to close it because we want to build a new level three.

“This is a big step up to the top top drawer hospice facility in the country.

“The two counties of Cavan and Monaghan, we need a hospice. There’s no hospice service, we have to go to Dublin for hospice services.”

“People have had to travel, this is for Cavan and we want to emphasise that it’s for Monaghan as well as Cavan.

“We are doing it for the two counties.”