Tuam is to get a new primary care centre, Health Minister Simon Harris has confirmed.
The North Galway facility is one of 14 new primary care centres that have been approved, including five in the west at Tuam, Ballinrobe, Boyle Claremorris and Westport.
Construction work is due to commence in the coming weeks and will be completed within two years, the Health Service Executive confirmed. It is expected that the services will be open to the public by mid-2018.
The new planned facilities are in addition other primary care centres that are already operational in the west, including Athenry, Castlerea, Doughiska in Galway city, Loughrea, Monksland and Roscommon.
The completion of primary care centres in Castlebar and Mountbellew are currently underway and due to be constructed by the end of this year.
Primary care centres provide health services locally in the community, which negates the need for patients to go to hospitals in the big centres.
The primary care teams include GPs, public health nurses, allied health professionals and home helps. They can also act as hubs for social workers, speech and language therapists, dental services, dieticians and other health care professionals. Primary care centres also facilitate counselling, retinal screening, and GP ultrasound services.
Minister Harris said: “On behalf of the Government we are delighted to welcome their significant investments in terms of expertise, funding, resources, employment opportunities and a 27-year partnership that extends from construction through 25-year facility maintenance. We look forward, with their support and assistance, in the delivery of state of the art 21st century health care facilities.”
Tony Canavan, the HSE’s Chief Officer for Galway, Mayo and Roscommon said: “The construction of these state of the art primary care centres, strategically located throughout our region, will provide us with the much needed infrastructure to deliver primary care services that will match the very best available across Europe to the people of the west of Ireland.”
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