Dr Tara Houlihan, Senior Clinical Psychologist, Psycho-oncology, Mercy University Hospital, Eoin Tobin, Chair of Board, Mercy Hospital Foundation, Sandra Daly, CEO Mercy University Hospital, Paschal McCarthy, CEO Mercy Hospital Foundation and Eoin Kelleher, Ross Building
PIC Darragh Kane
The Mercy Hospital Foundation is very pleased to announce that building works have commenced on the property at 9 Dyke Parade, Cork, which will be converted into the long awaited, state-of-the-art, Mercy Cancer CARE Centre.
Following a detailed tendering process, Ross Buildings Ltd of Tralee was appointed as main contractor for the project, and on Monday, 8th August 2022, the conversion of the currently disused Georgian building got underway. It is anticipated that the Centre will be complete by September 2023.
The existing 3,000 sq ft building, which is located at 9 Dyke Parade, Cork and just a minute’s walk away from both the main entrance to the Mercy University Hospital and it’s Outpatient Department, will be transformed into a modern non-clinical state of the art facility which will provide a quiet and safe place for patients and their families to access an increasingly necessary range of services to support those affected both directly and indirectly by a cancer diagnosis.
The Centre will be the home to the flagship Psycho-oncology service which is delivered by Clinical Psychologists and is available to patients (child/ adolescent/ adult) with a cancer diagnosis who attend the Mercy University Hospital, as well as their family members. The building will house several group and individual counselling rooms, with interactive IT systems and a modern comfortable environment to make cancer patients and their families feel they have as much information and support as they need as they deal with an extremely difficult time in their, and their loved one’s lives.
Speaking about the service they will offer at the Mercy Cancer CARE Centre, Dr Tara Houlihan, Senior Clinical Psychologist, Psycho-oncology at the Mercy University Hospital said “Our team will offer psychological support to patients and families at every step of the journey – following diagnosis, during treatment, and beyond – and will provide assessment and a range of psychologically-based therapeutic interventions matched to the patient and their family’s emotional, psychological, social, and spiritual needs.”
The Cancer CARE Centre will, amongst other things, feature a sensory garden and a library service which will also be online so that it can be accessed from home; together with space for staff and student Psychologists.
Commenting on the commencement of building, Paschal McCarthy, CEO of the Mercy Hospital Foundation said “The establishment of a dedicated Cancer CARE Centre has been a long-term objective of the Mercy Hospital Foundation, and following a number of delays, this is a tremendous milestone for the Foundation, having fundraised since 2015 to get this service off the ground. We could not have achieved this without our fantastic team at the Foundation; and most importantly the supporters, donors and volunteers who have run or walked miles, climbed mountains, swum in the sea in the depths of winter, dragged their friends and colleagues out to play golf, and completed many other innovative fundraising activities year after year, all in the effort to raise funds to bring this project to fruition.”
He continued “We cannot forget either, the families who have lost loved ones, and have donated generously in their memory. On behalf of the Foundation, and the patients and families that will use the services provided by the Mercy Cancer CARE Centre over the coming years, thank you to each and every one that has gone out of their way to raise funds for this amazing venture.”
To date €1.35 million has been raised for the Cancer CARE Centre. However the project is expected to cost €2.4 million, so the focus must now shift in an effort to raise a further €1 million to run the services.
For more information or to make a donation towards the Cancer CARE Centre, visit www.mercyhospitalfoundation.ie.
