Cork Medical Centre’s official opening

15th October, 2010.

CORK’S FIRST PRIVATE HOSPITAL IN 90 YEARS OPENS ITS DOORS

Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheàl Martin TD officially

opens the €90mCork Medical Centre.

Ireland’s most advanced hospital, the Cork Medical Centre (CMC), was today officially opened by Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheàl Martin, at City Gate in Mahon, Cork. The new €90m facility is operated by Sheehan Medical and is the first private hospital to open in the city for 90 years.

CMC will provide a huge boost to the local economy employing 525 people in the 5 star facility. It is the first hospital in Ireland to come with entirely single en-suite bedrooms, 75 in all, with 25 day patient beds. When fully operational Sheehan Medical expects to cover 39,000 patient treatments per year.

Extending to 135,000 sq ft it has 6 Opitz & Flierl ‘ultra-clean’ operating theatres; all fitted with the latest infection control and using advanced surgical techniques combined with the most cutting edge technology. This state of the art facility will also be fitted with next generation IT systems, such €9m of Siemens advanced diagnostics technology, including the first an Artis Zee Biplane system in Europe[1].

Speaking at the launch today Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheàl Martin TD said: “The Cork Medical Centre is a world class facility. As well as providing medical care CMC represents a major boost to the local economy by providing direct jobs and demand for services in local communities. The centre will be accessible to the majority of health plans and is an important asset for Cork. I want to wish all the team at CMC every success into the future.”

Dr Joseph Sheehan, the renowned surgeon, has returned from the US after 35 years to become CEO of CMC; speaking at the launch he said: ‘‘We have been planning a new hospital in Cork for several years so the opening of CMC marks the successful end of a long process for us. Cork has missed out on new facilities for almost a century, and there is a major shortfall in the provision of operating theatres in the Munster region; Dublin’s catchment area has over two and half times more private operating theatres, despite having a similar population. Our day theatres are already 75% booked up; therefore, meeting this important surgical demand in the south of the country will be our main priority.”

Infection control is at the forefront of the design and procedures at CMC. The fully single rooms are not just for comfort, they are integral to stopping the spread of infections. Other elements include infection resistant fittings and fixtures. Infection control protocols ensure all patients are swabbed for MRSA on entry to the hospital and put in one of the four isolation rooms if tests are positive. Each isolation room has its own air handling system and negative air pressure, which minimises the risk of air borne infections leaving the isolation rooms. More details below.

CMC was approved by Aviva health insurance recently and is accessible by 80% of their customers. Negotiations with Quinn Insurance and VHI are in the final stages and expected to be completed shortly.

Based in the City Gate development in Mahon the location is now emerging as an important medical hub for Cork. The Cork Medical Centre is complemented on site by the largest VHI Swiftcare Clinic in Ireland, which is already referring patients to the new hospital. City Gate also houses the VHI Medical Centre and the national headquarters of the Health Information & Quality Authority.  The site is strategically located next to Mahon Point Shopping Centre close to Cork’s South Ring. In total the development has 330,000 sq ft of high quality floorspace with 900 free car parking spaces.

For further information please contact: Simon Palmer, at Republic PR on + 353 (0) 851 341 761 or email: simon@republicpr.ie

NOTES TO EDITORS

Infection Control Facts

• CMC will be the first hospital in Ireland to have all single bed rooms (73) – crucial to helping reduce the transmission of infections.
• Everyone entering the hospital will be swabbed for MRSA on entry. If tests are positive they will be put in one of the isolation rooms until it is removed.
• There are four isolation rooms in the facility, one in each of the three wards and one in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Each isolation room is mechanically ventilated with negative pressure and HEPA filtration (High Efficiency Particulate Arresting filters) to ensure airborne infections do not leave the room.
• CMC has six Opitz & Flierl operating theatres with stainless steel doors that are kick operated to reduced hand borne infections.
• The Theatre and Endoscopy operating room walls are constructed of stainless steel modular panels coated with anti-microbial powder.
• HEPA filter canopies over each operating table, and Ultra Clean-Laminar Flow for Orthopeadic procedures, push air born infection onto the floors.
• The theatre department is designed with two separate goods lifts for clean goods in one way and waste out the other.
• Similarly patients enter each theatre in one door and leave via another, thus reducing risk of cross contamination.
• Each of the four main operating theatres has a HEPA filter canopy over each operating table, two of which are Ultra Clean-Laminar Flow for Orthopeadic procedures
• All the clinical wash hand basins throughout the facility have sensor taps to make every opportunity available to staff to minimise the chances of infections spreading
• There is MRSA resistant glass in all the en suite bathroom pods and the back splashes for all of the sinks in the hospital.
• There are 14 different air handling units used for heating and ventilating the facility, that are controlled by a state of the art Siemens Building Energy Management System (BEMS). The BEMS system also monitors and controls the temperature of all hot and cold water services insuring water reaches each tap at the correct temperature. All pipe work runs have been designed and installed to minimize dead legs thus reducing risk of legionnaires disease.
• The day-care Endoscopy Department has 2 No. state of the art Wassenburg pass through scope sterilizers complete with Hot RO water system and full computerised traceability system.

Background to Sheehan Medical

Sheehan Medical was set up to operate private hospitals in the UK, Britain and mainland Europe. The company is operated by Chief Executive, James Sheehan, and his father Dr Joseph Sheehan. Sheehan Medical’s aim is to bring best practice in US medical techniques and standards to Ireland. The company prides itself in combining the operation of first class medical facilities with a successful business model. The unique share holding structure allows doctors and consultants to buy into the ownership of their hospitals and share in the financial success.

Chairman Dr Joseph Sheehan, along with his brother Dr Jimmy Sheehan, both Dublin natives, were two of the founders of the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin, which opened in 1984. In January 2006, he was part of a small group that purchased the controlling interest in the Blackrock Clinic from BUPA. An €80m expansion project is currently underway.

In 2004 he again partnered with his brother Jimmy to open the Galway Clinic, which received international recognition and re-established Dr. Sheehan’s commitment to raising healthcare standards through dedication to quality improvement and technological advances.

An active surgeon for over 35 years, Dr. Sheehan was the Chairman of Orthopedics at Central Dupage Hospital from 2004- 2006, which he led to be recognised as one of the top 50 Orthopaedics Departments in the US for 2007 and 2008 (US News and World Report). During his tenure the hospital implemented the most cutting – edge medical treatments in the world, including the Interventional Radiology Stroke Department and the Proton Treatment Cancer Centre (one of only 7 in the world for treating patients)

He is now an Associate Professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation at Loyala University Medical School in Ilinois, USA. Joseph is also currently in private practice in Chicago where he performs general orthopaedics and specialises in joint replacement and reconstruction.Chief Executive, James Sheehan, specialises in the administration of medical care from the science to the management side. A native of Chicago he moved to Ireland in 2002 to step into his father’s role as project manager and co-developer of the Galway Clinic (that had started in 2001) in addition to taking over his role as Director of the Blackrock Clinic.

Following his time at the Galway Clinic, he started the development of three private medical centres: Cork, Ireland; Lisbon, Portugal; and Glasgow, Scotland. He remains a director of the Blackrock Clinic and Galway Clinic.

Background to John Cleary Developments.

John Cleary Developments (JCD) is a privately owned property development and investment company specialising in the construction of office, retail, medical and light industrial property, primarily in Cork, for the past 20 years.  The low profile firm are one of the biggest business park developers in the south of Ireland, to date completing over 785,000 square feet of quality business park space in Cork, creating successful working environments for over 1500 people.

JCD has recently received planning permission for an additional 280,000 sq ft of high end office accommodation at a site adjoining the existing City Gate which it acquired from Cork City Council in 2009.  When completed it is envisaged that the total City Gate development will provide jobs for over 3,000 people and is specifically designed to cater for large multi-national clients.

The €140m City Gate Development comprising of a total of over 330,000 square feet and has 900 underground car parking spaces making it one of the largest new commercial developments in Ireland.  Located adjoining Mahon Point Shopping Centre, on the South Ring Road Network, the new Cork Medical Centre will be extremely accessible for patients. Designed around a central plaza, incorporating a Cafe and attractive civic space, City Gate has set a new standard for commercial developments in Cork.

As well as having the largest VHI Swiftcare Clinic in Ireland, JCD have now leased over 180,000 square feet of office space at City Gate. Tenants including McAfee, Big Fish Games and Solarwinds, who have chosen City Gate as their European, Middle East and African headquarters in the face of very stiff competition. Other occupiers include HIQA, Pobal and Regus. The scale of these lettings is unprecedented in Ireland particularly given the current market conditions.

An additional 35,000 sq. ft has recently received a change of use planning permission to outpatient medical uses. A large portion of this space is currently under negotiation with internationally renowned medical operators and the intention is to create a world class medical campus.

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[1] A new type of neuro angiography diagnostics machine that can provide high definition 4D real time images.

Construction of private hospital: Cork Medical Centre

Work on the Cork Medical Centre (CMC) is progressing well and nearing completion in time for its opening on 16th September, 2010.

I’m currently having weekly PR meetings in Cork in the run up to the launch and last week I took some videos and photos to show how fit out is progressing.

The video below shows a 360 degree view of the fantastic City Gate development where the CMC is located. City Gate is first class with exceptional quality of workmanship and finishes. It was developed by local cork developers John Cleary Developments (JCD).

Also on site at City Gate is Cork’s only VHI SwiftCare Clinic, located only a minute’s walk to CMC. This short video below shows how close the entrances to both facilities are.

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Construction photos of Sheehan Medical’s new private hospital the Cork Medical Centre.

Below is an aerial photo of the City Gate office development in Mahon Cork and fit out photos – please click on the images to see the whole photo.

The battle for Cork – Two Out of the Three Private Hospital Plans In Disarray

There has been a lot of talk recently about the competition between private hospitals in Cork and the three way battle to be the first open there for decades with proposals from the Beacon Medical Group and Sheehan Medical that were initiated during the boom and the newcomer to the market O’Callaghan Properties.

The problematic co-location proposals by the Beacon Group at CUH have been well documented in Ireland. In June they emerged from An Bord Pleanala with an approval only to find that during the year the project was delayed, the investment market has changed drastically and what they are now facing is very a different situation than before, with funding now much harder to raise.

The Beacon Group stated publicly on the front page of the Cork Echo on 18^thJune that, whereas before they could have got funding from three banks, now they are having to approach eight. Not a nice situation to be in especially during a recession, but it is symptomatic of how much the business sector can change whilst they are stuck in protracted delays caused at An Bord Pleanalla.

Another very high profile project that has run into problems this week are the proposals by O’Callaghan Properties  for a private hospital on Western Road, Cork City, which is now the subject of multiple appeals to An Bord Pleanalla. This project has been very highly publicised despite not have planning permission, with Owen Callaghan himself appearing on Newstalk’s ‘Down To Business’.  In my eyes this is always a dangerous strategy in which clients are setting themselves up for a fall until their projects have passed the appeals process, which is why I advised my clients Sheehan Medical not to announce their proposals until they had a project with full planning and were sure that it was definitely going ahead.

The O’Callaghan’s proposals want to redevelop a residential site where they already have planning permission for apartments although this was not without its problems and itself went to An Bord Pleanalla where the size was drastically reduced in order to protect St Finbarre’s Cathedral. The hospital proposals went way past this protected view and were only marginally reduced when the City Council granted permission.  This now means that another private hospital is bogged down for year at An Bord Pleanala and possibly faces refusal as it contrary to the residential zoning of the site and the surrounding area, and it severely harms the views and setting of the Cathedral.

As a former planning consultant, abeit not for the past ten years, I am only too aware of the ups and downs of property development. In Ireland the system is particularly problematic because any third party can appeal a planning approval. This means anyone anywhere in the country can appeal against any planning application as long as they objected to it during the application consultation period. This system is open to widespread abuse with serial objectors looking to hold developers to ransom in return for withdrawing their objections or appeal.

Sometimes though the system allows those with genuine concerns to make their feelings known and helps keep an eye on powerful developers who find it all too easy to get their developments approved by the local councils. This all leads to a very uncertain planning process. What makes the problem worse is that An Bord Pleanalla currently takes ten to twelve months to come to a decision on appeals, this is especially problematic in the current market when developers are looking for investment because things change rapidly and to have to suffer uncertainty for a year whilst in appeal means developers have to go back to the drawing board when fundraising as Beacon now are now finding out.

I have seen this first hand since acting on behalf of Sheehan Medical (the Chairman was the founder of the Blackrock Clinic and Galway Clinic). When I was brought on board to handle their PR they had already been embroiled in a development site in Bishopstown Cork that was at appeal. The appeal delayed the project by two years and added millions of euros to their costs. I advised them to re-structure their approach to obtaining a site and only go for sites that had planning permission, thus taking away a planning risk. This led us to finding the City Gate business park in Mahon, which was fully built with full planning permission for a private hospital. Bingo! The deal was announced in June http://www.republicpr.ie/?p=45 and gained wide national publicity in broadcast media and press. The simplicity of project i.e. fully built with full planning permission meant that all was needed the fit out of the building allowing us to announce the opening of the hospital on 19th April next year only ten months after the deal was announced.

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