Minister Foley and Fundraisers Welcome €10m Extension for UHK Oncology Project

Minister Norma Foley welcomes the approval for a €10 million extension and upgrade of the oncology ward at University Hospital Kerry. 
Mary Fitzgerald, Comfort for Chemo (left) about to receive a cheque for €2,200 from Eileen and Thomas O’Connor, Headley’s Bridge from their Christmas 2020 collection. The Christmas 2021 cheque from their crib collection is up by just over €700 and came in at €2,902.

Minister for Education and Kerry TD Norma Foley welcomes the issuing of a letter of approval to University Hospital Kerry to confirm the €10 million extension and upgrade of the oncology ward.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly confirmed to Minister Foley that a letter of approval has issued to UHK which green-lights the upgrade of oncology services at UHK.-

Fully Kitted out Treatment Pods 

The €10 million investment will provide for a state of the art extension to the existing oncology day ward including funding to cover design, construction and equipment costs.

The project brief includes the provision of 10 fully kitted out treatment pods, two treatment rooms, a chemotherapy day unit and associated staff accommodation. 

Over the coming months it is expected that the project will progress through to detailed design stage to ensure that it will meet the needs of the population and be in line with the overall National Cancer Strategy.

Excellence in Cancer Treatment

Minister Foley said that Minister Donnelly has confirmed the allocation of approximately €10 million for this significant and much needed extension to oncology services at UHK.

“This vital funding will further enhance the provision of excellence in cancer treatment services in Kerry and the south west.

“The €10 million investment is an endorsement of the combined efforts of staff and management of UHK and the tireless work of community volunteers most notably Comfort for Chemo who have worked so hard to advance this project,” said Minister Foley.

News Welcomed in Headley’s Bridge

The news of the injection of funding for cancer care in Kerry was especially welcomed in Headley’s Bridge, Knocknagoshel this morning.

There, Eileen and Thomas O’Connor have been fundraising for Comfort for Chemo through their Christmas Crib collection over the past decade.

In the course of the Christmas 2021 collection the O’Connors raised the bar again and pushed the total raised to €2,902 which represents an increase of over €700 on the previous year’s final tally.

“We’d like to thank everyone who donated to our collection again at Christmas and to local man and SSE Airtricity representative, Eamonn Cotter who boosted our amount with a €500 donation,” said Eileen.

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