Builders are due to start repair work at Wexford General Hospital on Monday after a major fire which resulted in the largest medical evacuation in the history of the State.
Maternity services reopened on Friday despite damage to the special care infant ward and out-patient appointments are due to resume on Monday after the major fire broke out at the 280 bed facility on Wednesday afternoon at around 4pm.
The fire resulted in more than 200 patients along with hospital staff being evacuated from the medical facility and brought to hospitals across the south-east, Dublin, Cork and Navan.
READ MORE: Two babies born at Wexford Hospital as maternity services resume following devastating fire
In a statement on Sunday the Ireland East Hospital Group said: “A survey of critical infrastructure and services is ongoing. Decontamination and cleaning has been carried out in some areas affected by the fire in order to facilitate construction repairs to be made.
“Builders will be on site from tomorrow (Monday). Wexford General Hospital resumed maternity and some outpatient gynaecological services, including SCBU last Friday. There are currently 37 patients being treated in the hospital with 84 beds potentially available.”
Nearby Ely Hospital continues to be unaffected and if patients have scheduled appointments hospital management is asking them to attend as normal.
The statement explained that repatriation of a small number of patients from University Hospital Waterford who require ongoing care occurred over the weekend. Management hopes to move back more patients over the coming week as electrics, medical gases, oxygen and other vital technical services are fully restored, tested and deemed safe for use.
“Hospital Management, Ireland East Hospital Group and the HSE have been working over the weekend to further increase bed capacity and it is hoped that further beds may open in the coming weeks,” the statement continued.
“Solutions such as modular builds and other options to increase capacity are being considered. Outpatients and radiology services will resume from Monday. Patients should attend scheduled outpatient appointments as usual.
“Patients who were unable to attend their outpatients appointments last week due to the fire will be contacted as soon as possible and prioritised for a new appointment.”
The IEHG reiterated that the Emergency Department at the hospital remains closed.
University Hospital Waterford ED continues to be extremely busy and the IEHG is asking all patients to consider their care options including GP and Out-of-Hours Services. CareDoc continues to have additional GPs available during out of hours in the Wexford and Waterford areas.
The IEHG advises that patients who may have questions or concerns about scheduled outpatient appointments can contact the telephone number on their appointment letter from the hospital.
Senior Assistant Chief Fire Officer Ray Murphy said that a piece of machinery is most likely the cause of the fire in a plant room on the roof. There was “no asbestos or other chemical run off risk”.
Mr Murphy said the scale of the damage was "medium to small" and was confined to a small part of the hospital confined to one wing. He said the cause of the fire has not yet been “fully determined”.
The quick thinking of staff and emergency services of which 75 firefighters from across the county and Waterford averted the loss of life and injuries and has been praised by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste Michael Martin, Health Minister Stephen and Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien who has responsibility for the fire services.
The Taoiseach visited the hospital on Friday and committed to providing Government aid in rebuilding the damaged wing of the hospital. He said it will be “weeks if not months” before the hospital is fully operational.
Catholic thanksgiving masses were held across the Diocese of Ferns over the weekend. Bishop of Ferns Ger Nash said: “[The masses are] to salute the bravery of our fire service personnel and, in particular, the leadership of hospital manager Linda O’Leary, and her management team.
“She has indicated that services are due to return on a phased basis as soon as vital infrastructure is restored. From the bottom of my heart I thank God for our unsung heroes, these Good Samaritans, in our community”.
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