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Wexford General Hospital

Coordinates: 52°20′34″N 6°28′57″W / 52.3428°N 6.4824°W / 52.3428; -6.4824
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wexford General Hospital
Health Service Executive
Wexford General Hospital
Wexford General Hospital is located in Ireland
Wexford General Hospital
Shown in Ireland
Geography
LocationNewtown Road, Carricklawn, Wexford, Ireland
Coordinates52°20′34″N 6°28′57″W / 52.3428°N 6.4824°W / 52.3428; -6.4824
Organisation
Care systemHSE
TypeGeneral
Affiliated universityUniversity College Dublin
Services
Emergency departmentYes Accident & Emergency
Beds280
History
Opened1928
Links
ListsHospitals in the Republic of Ireland

Wexford General Hospital (Irish: Ospidéal Ginearálta Loch Garman) is an acute general hospital in Wexford, the county town of County Wexford in the Republic of Ireland. It is managed by Ireland East Hospital Group.[1]

History

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The hospital originally opened as Wexford County Hospital in December 1928, in the premises of the old Wexford Union Workhouse on Old Hospital Road, which had been established on 25 July 1842.[2]

From March 1965 to 1978, the County Hospital medical department was moved to Brownswood Hospital in Enniscorthy.[3]

Improvements to the existing facilities were completed under the auspices of the South Eastern Health Board during the 1970s. In 1978, the Minister for Health established a group to plan for the hospital's future. Land beside the Newtown Road in Carricklawn close to the County Hospital was made available. The decision to build a new hospital was finalized by the SEHB in November 1982, but it was not until February 1988 that construction of the new building began, and it was completed in 1992. The hospital was renamed Wexford General Hospital at that time.[4]

It had been originally intended to demolish the old hospital building, but it was designated as a protected structure, preventing its demolition.[5][6]

In 2010, thousands of people protested about proposed changes to the status of the hospital.[7]

In 2013 it was listed in the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013, subsequently enacted as the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013, as one of the institutions where abortions are authorized to be carried out under the Act.[8][9]

In 2014 two new extensions with a combined floor area of 4,600 square metres were completed.[10]

In 2017 the Herbert Amon Unit, an early maternity unit, was opened.[11]

On 1 March 2023, a large fire broke out in the hospital, resulting in a major emergency being declared and four wards, including the ICU, and over 200 patients being evacuated.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Six hospital groups 'most fundamental reform in decades'". Irish Medical Times. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Photographs of Wexford's "Old Hospital"". Wexford Hub. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  3. ^ Lonergan, Eamonn (2005), "History of the South Eastern Health Board", South Eastern Health Board, pp. 25–26, ISBN 1-874218-38-2
  4. ^ Lonergan, Eamonn (2005), "History of the South Eastern Health Board", South Eastern Health Board, pp. 45–46, ISBN 1-874218-38-2
  5. ^ O'Neill, Julie (1983), "3.3", A review of hospitals admission policy., Dublin: Department of Finance
  6. ^ "Wexford Union Workhouse, Wexford, County Wexford". National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  7. ^ "Protest over future of Wexford General". RTÉ News and Current Affairs. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 22 May 2010. Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  8. ^ "List of institutions where limited abortions can be carried out". Irish Times. 13 June 2013.
  9. ^ "Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013" (PDF). Houses of the Oireachtas. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  10. ^ "Wexford General Hospital Extension". JJ Rhatigan Building Contractors. Archived from the original on 15 March 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  11. ^ Pepper, Maria (5 August 2017). "New hospital unit funded from bequest left by kind benefactor". Gorey Guardian. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  12. ^ Kane, Conor (1 March 2023). "Wexford hospital evacuated as major emergency declared". RTÉ News. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
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