Cork’s 96FM post news transcripts on it’s website

Yesterday I released a big announcement for Sheehan Medical, the private hospital operator who are developing the Cork Medical Centre in Cork; they have signed a $1m deal with Boston IT company MEDITECH.  The full media press release is here. http://www.tinyurl.ie/mt. This was covered very widely in the media yesterday, here’s The Examiner’s coverage http://www.tinyurl.ie/mu.

The story was covered on a number of local radio stations and, thanks to the internet, I was able to listen to monitor their news coverage myself from Dublin. It is very esay to obtain copies of radio coverage in MP3, the cost is about €40 from a media monitoring service, and it is quite easy to rip them from the internet yourself these days. But what is great about one radion station namely Cork’s 96 FM http://www.96fm.ie is they put transcript’s of the news coverage on their website.

This is great for us as we have a written record that we can link to and it makes a lot of sense for the radio station because they have already written scripts so they might as well us the text to add news content to their website. What would be great too if they provide the MP3 on line next to the coverage. Here’s a link to the details Cork’s 96fm covered on the Sheehan Medical announcement.

So, if you get any coverage on Cork’s 96fm and miss the coverage you should try their website, you never know what you might find (incidentally most media monitoring companies, such as Media Market, can get MP3s of the major radio stations for a month after they’ve aired).

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Sheehan Medical agrees $1m deal with MEDITECH for Cork Medical Centre

US technology firm awarded contract to provide Health Care Information System (HCIS) to Cork’s newest private hospital

The development of Cork’s newest hospital, the Cork Medical Centre (CMC) in Mahon, is continuing unabated. The facility will be the first private hospital developed in Ireland’s second city for thirty years and is the one developed by the Sheehan family in Munster.

The Sheehan’s have been at the forefront of private hospital development in Ireland; brother Dr Joe Sheehan and Dr Jimmy Sheehan first developed the Dublin’s Blackrock Clinic back in the early eighties. They then built the Galway and Hermitage Clinics.

The Cork Medical Centre is being lead by Dr Joe Sheehan, who is the Chairman of Sheehan Medical and his sons James Sheehan, Chief Executive Officer, and Philip Sheehan, Chief Operating Officer. The Sheehan’s pride themselves on bringing the latest best practices in health care from the US and crucial to this is leading technology; as part of their aim to make CMC the most technologically advanced hospital in Ireland the have today announced it will have  Ireland’s most high-tech IT system after they awarded the $1m / €740,000 contract to MEDITECH, the provider of health care software based in Boston, Massachusetts.

The new €90m hospital, which will open in the summer, will now include MEDITECH’s Health Care Information System (HCIS); which fully integrates the hospital’s clinical and financial systems. It is the most integrated hospital information system available and is in operation in 2,200 medical facilities across the World.

The paperless system means that all information related to the patient’s care is accessible by any of the team of consultants at hospital, from entry to facility through to completion of treatment and crucially it can also be accessed by all medical practitioners undertaking subsequent external after care, such as GPs or physiotherapists.

The use of next generation IT systems is a speciality of Sheehan Medical, which prides itself on the cutting edge technology at its facilities and makes it a priority to bring the latest US techniques and equipment to Ireland. MEDITECH’s system was adopted by their Galway Clinic in 2004, where it’s a great success and it is also in use at the Hermitage and Beacon clinics, and Mount Carmel Group hospitals. It has now been licensed to meet the specific needs of the Cork Medical Centre.

Philip Sheehan, Chief Operating Officer of the Cork Medical Centre, said: ‘‘We pride ourselves in having the latest technology in all our hospitals and aim to make the Cork Medical Centre the most high-tech hospital ever developed in Ireland. The success of this deal marks the next stage of the on-going six year relationship between Sheehan Medical and MEDITECH; their system will play a key role in providing the very best care for our patients at the new Cork facility.”

NOTES

About Cork Medical Centre – www.corkmedicalcentre.com

The Cork Medical Centre will be a 5 star facility providing 75 single in-patient bedrooms, fully sealed with the latest in infection control. The main focus of the hospital will be surgery; there will be four operating theatres and a same day surgery centre with 20 out-patient beds. The facility will also house an intensive care unit; radiology facilities with MRI / CT / X-ray scanners; a cardiology and neuroscience facility. International accreditation, benchmarking and auditing will be provided by an internationally renowned healthcare organisation. Further details can be found at www.corkmedicalcentre.com

About Sheehan Medical – www.sheehanmedical.com

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 C.M., who is Chairman.

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.

An active surgeon for over 35 years Chairman, Dr Joseph Sheehan, a Dublin native, was one 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.

About MEDITECH – www.meditech.com

MEDITECH has been the leader in the Health Care Information Systems (HCIS) industry since 1969. MEDITECH’s applications unify clinical, administrative, and financial information across a health care organization, including acute care, long-term care, home health care, and physician practices. Today, more than 2,200 institutions worldwide use MEDITECH’s information systems.

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Funds secured for new Cork hospital

I posted a recent media release about Sheehan Medical’s new private hospital in Chicago here http://www.republicpr.ie/2010/02/07/sheehan-family-launches-50m-clinic-partnership-loyola-university/ last week on the day the story appeared in The Sunday Times. Here is another article on the project that also covers their new Irish project in Cork. The article appeared yesterday in The Sunday Business Post. I have copied the article in below, but a link to the original source is here:http://www.sbpost.ie/news/ireland/funds-secured-for-new-cork-hospital-47396.html

THE SUNDAY BUSINESS POST - Funds secured for new Cork hospital

14 February 2010 By Susan Mitchell

The developer of a new private hospital in Cork has secured loans of €30 million to complete the fit-out of the project. Bank of Ireland provided most of the funding to Cleary Developments, which is building the facility at the City Gate Medical campus in Mahon. It will be operated by Sheehan Medical, the hospital operator which has interests in the Blackrock and Galway clinics.

James Sheehan, chief executive of Sheehan Medical, said the banks had been encouraged by the number of doctors that had invested in the Cork hospital.

He said that 12 doctors have taken equity in the project, and another 40 doctors had signed contracts to take suites. Sheehan said that there had been a lot of interest from Irish doctors living overseas who wanted to return home but could not get public consultancy posts. He said that he expected the hospital to stimulate competition in the south of the country, where its main rival is the Bon Secours.

Sheehan Medical planned to undercut prices at the Bon Secours by 10-15 per cent, said Sheehan. A recent decision by the Health Service Executive to close 1,000 beds would also have a direct impact on the private sector, he said.

‘‘Many of those patients will feed into the private sector. You can not stop the flow of patients,” Sheehan said. He said he was not concerned about the impact that lower reimbursement rates from health insurer VHI would have on the hospital’s business model.

‘‘I think the VHI will welcome our arrival. We haven’t begun negotiations with them, but the net effect will be a reduction in the cost of healthcare in the south,” he said.

Sheehan said the cost of the Cork project had dropped from a projected €90 million to €75 million due to a fall in fit-out costs.

The hospital will have 75 in-patient beds, 20 out-patient beds, four operating theatres and a day surgery centre. More than 350 jobs will be created to run the hospital, and Sheehan Medical has a deal with Loyola University Health System, which will manage a number of services at the hospital. Sheehan Medical is also developing a $50 million (€36.8 million) hospital in Chicago in conjunction with Loyola.

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Sheehan Family Launches New $50m US Clinic in Partnership with Loyola University

Ground broken this week on new 100,000 sq ft facility in Chicago

7^th February, 2010, Cork Ireland: Irish private hospital operator, Sheehan Medical, has today announced their latest international project, a $50m 100,000 sq ft new hospital in the prestigious Burr Ridge area of Chicago.

The ground was broken this week on the latest facility, which is being developed in conjunction with the renowned Loyola University Health System and marks a strengthening of the close working relationship between the two organisations.

Due to open in 2011, the Loyola Centre of Health at Burr Ridge is only 12 miles from the Loyola University Health System’s main medical centre campus.  It is one of only a handful of new projects that have secured finance in Chicago in the past year and is the only new development to have broken ground in recent months.

The hospital’s anchor services will provide world leading orthopaedic and neuroscience treatments. It will include the world’s first ‘Centre for the Senses’, which will encompass otolaryngology, ophthalmology, audiology as well as an optical shop and hearing centre. Also on offer will be an immediate care centre, and special complementary services in the fields of sports medicine, occupational and speech therapy and many rehabilitation services.

Joseph Sheehan, Chairman of Sheehan Medical, says: “We have a long standing relationship with the Loyola University Health System both in the US and at our Galway Clinic. We are honoured that we have been able to cement this with a partnership at the Loyola Centre for Health at Burr Ridge. And, we hope to be working closely together on further projects in the future, such as the Cork Medical Centre.”

Local links already exist within the staff of Loyola, Dr Paul Whelton, the President and Chief Executive is originally from Cork. He says “We are delighted to be working with the Sheehan’s again to develop this new US facility. We already exchange expertise and best-practice techniques with their Irish clinics in Galway; and this is something we intend to develop further in order to ensure their new hospital in Cork has access to the latest technology and procedures.”

Sheehan Medical have continued to expand during the economic slowdown, their next hospital opening be the Cork Medical Centre, which is fully funded and nearing completion of its fit out. The 135,000 sq ft facility in Mahon is due to open in the summer; it is the first private hospital in the Cork to open in thirty years. The 5 star facility will have 75 single in-patient bedrooms; four operating theatres; and, a same day surgery centre with 20 out-patient beds.

Launched in June 2009, it is already providing a huge boost to the local economy: 150 people are currently employed during the fit out, whilst 350 new positions will be created to run the hospital, which will also have 75 doctors on site with 100 ancillary staff.

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

NOTES TO EDITORS

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 C.M., who is Chairman.

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 Loyola University Medical School in Illinois, 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.

He remains a director of the Blackrock Clinic and Galway Clinic.

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Sheehan Medical on front page of today’s Evening Echo

Sheehan Medical’s new private hospital made the front page of today’s Evening Echo.

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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