From the archives: Mayo County Hospital opened in October 1938
By Tom Gillespie
ON Thursday, October 24, 1938, Mayo’s new county hospital, erected at a cost of £100,000, was formally opened and blessed before a distinguished gathering of Mayo clergymen, public representatives and officials.
The opening ceremony was performed by Mr. P.J. Ruttledge, Minister for Justice, and the new building was blessed by Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Walsh, Bishop of Cela.
The Connaught Telegraph reported on Saturday, October 26, 1938, that the new building, which stands on the site of the old county jail, is certainly one of the most striking and up-to-date of its kind in Ireland.
It is unusual and distinctive in design and is meant to ‘trap’ the sun's rays at its many angles. The aspect is a northerly one, and throughout a bright summer day the wards and general interior of the hospital are constantly obtaining the full benefit of the sun.
It is a two-storey structure with accommodation for 124 patients, which includes a six-bed maternity ward.
In all there are 20 wards, and the largest number of beds in any one ward is 12. There are four single-bed wards, and the rest contain four, six, eight and 12 beds.
Inside the main entrance on the ground floor there are the Matron’s and House Surgeon’s offices, reception room and medical departments, while the surgical rooms are contained on the second floor, close to the operating theatre. There is an electric lift for conveying patients to the second floor.
The kitchen, which is equipped with every kind of modern culinary convenience, including a hot-plate system, electrically heated food trolleys, food stores, soup boilers, fryers, and a food-lift, is situated on the right wing of the ground floor alongside the nurses’ and maids’ dining halls.
Apart from the offices and the various wards there is an x-ray room, violet-ray department and a pathology room, all of which are situated in the most appropriate and convenient parts of the building and equipped in the most modern manner.
In the accident ward, operating theatre and other necessary quarters every thought has been given to the needs of surgeon, nurse and patient, and the most hygienic requirements, such as elbow taps and electrical and driers, have been installed.
A feature of this section of the equipment is the specially made mackintosh washers, the invention of Dr. A. MacBride, the present Surgeon, County Hospital, Castlebar. The value of the idea is that bed-macks can be washed with little or no handling on the part of the nurse. The new installation is called ‘Mac-Washer’.
All the floors of the building are covered with Rubidium, which makes for silence, and is guaranteed to last a very long time.
The heating system, which was installed by Messers. Haden, Dublin, has ben carried out in the panel idea and all pipes are carried to the wards inside the plastering.
Throughout the hospital there is an automatic telephone system which communicates with all the wards from the surgery, operating theatre, and Matron’s office.
The beds and furniture in the wards are of the most up-to-date manufacture. The beds are of aluminium, with bed-rests and a lowering and raising movement.
Attached to the hospital there are beautiful grounds and four sun balconies possessing a beautiful aspect.
The interior walls of the building are done in keen cement and finished in blue and they present a bright and pleasing appearance.
Outside the hospital proper stands the nurses’ home which will accommodate the nursing staff and maids. The building, erected at a cost of £8,000, is also most modern in lay-out and the nature of its interior equipment.
It will have accommodation for 30 nurses, about 18 of whom will be probationers.
It is the intention of the hospital authorities to train probationers from the county in the new building, and in view of this the Minister for Local Government sanctioned the provision of the nurses’ home of accommodation for nurses in training.
The new laundry is also an elaborate building and houses most up-to-date machinery. It is from this building that the hospital will be heated.
Though the new hospital has been completed there is still some structures to be erected on the hospital site. These include a doctor’s residence, an oratory, two lodges, a TB and ophthalmic clinic, accommodation for the County Medical Officer of Health and staff, and a garage.
It is expected that the contracts for these new buildings will be given out during the coming year (1939). The plans for some of them have been with the department for some time and simply await sanction.
The building, which was started in 1933, will have cost more than £100,000 when fully equipped. It is estimated that when the additional structures are erected that the cost will have run into £150,000.
Originally it was thought that the work could be carried out inside a cost of £90,000, and the Hospitals Trust Fund was to contribute more than half of this amount.
Unfortunately, trouble arose over the original contract and the Board of Health of Mayo had to advertise for tenders for the completion of the work.
There were very many legal obstacles in the way of transferring the contract to new hands, but after months of delay the contract was eventually put in the hands of Messers. Hull and Co., Ringsend, Dublin.
Delay was also experienced in the matter of procuring sterilisation and radiological equipment. But eventually all these difficulties were negotiated by the board, and today (October 26, 1938) the county boasts of the best hospital in Eire - a building which will cater for the needs of the sick of one of the largest and most thickly-populated counties in Ireland.