Public invited to engagement sessions on major west hospital development

UNIVERSITY Hospital Galway (UHG) and Galway City Council are inviting the public to participate in a follow up consultation on development plans for the hospital which will future-proof healthcare infrastructure in the region over the coming decades.

The UHG Development Control Plan represents the largest ever investment in healthcare infrastructure in the region.

To help support this ambitious plan, UHG began a programme of public engagement with the local community and stakeholders last year. The initial consultation took place over a number of weeks with two community drop-in days taking place alongside a number of targeted briefings for staff and public representatives.

The project team met with 247 people throughout these events which were a valuable opportunity for dialogue, questions, and detailed feedback. Some 157 feedback submissions were received online.

There was a high level of overall support for the proposed plan with 45% saying they were very supportive and 24% saying they were somewhat supportive. Analysis of comments from the consultation indicated strong overall support for hospital development, driven by a shared perception that the existing facilities were outdated and inadequate for the growing population.

During the first tranche of engagement sessions, UHG committed to holding further public engagements in conjunction with Galway City Council. Following a meeting with local elected representatives, they are inviting members of the public to attend drop-in sessions in Shantalla this week on Thursday and Friday, July 9 and 10.

The events will provide an opportunity for UHG to share updates on the Development Control Plan (DCP) project and plans for a permanent helipad as well as to respond to queries and gather valuable feedback from communities.

The dates and times for the engagements are:

Thursday, July 9, from 1.30 to 6.30 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Community Centre, Shantalla.

Friday, July 10, from 1.30 to 5 p.m. at St. Joseph’s Community Centre, Shantalla.