SOME 75 staff at the Republic’s newest private hospital have been put on a month’s protective notice after the hospital’s operator confirmed it has been unable to agree a cover arrangement with private health insurance firm VHI Healthcare.
Management at the €90 million Cork Medical Centre in Mahon informed staff yesterday afternoon that they were being put on protective notice as the operator of the hospital, the Sheehan Medical Group, endeavoured to agree a deal with VHI Healthcare.
A Cork Medical Centre spokesman confirmed the move to put staff on protective notice followed the inability of the Sheehan Medical Group to agree cover with VHI Healthcare for the facility, which opened last October at Citygate in Mahon.
The Sheehan Medical Group secured a cover arrangement last September with Aviva before the hospital opened. Since the opening, the group has secured a cover arrangement with Quinn Health Insurance, but negotiations with VHI have failed to produce an agreement.
The Cork Medical Centre spokesman confirmed the group was still in discussions with VHI Healthcare, and still hoped to finalise a deal which would enable VHI customers to avail of the hospital’s services and ensure its survival.
VHI Healthcare later issued a statement in which it said the company continued to believe there was “an excess capacity in the private hospital marketplace”. It said it had communicated this view to the Cork Medical Centre before the new hospital opened.
“We first advised Cork Medical Centre in August 2009 of this position and they chose to go ahead with fitting out the new facility,” VHI Healthcare said in its statement.
“To date any proposals we have received from the hospital have not demonstrated any meaningful savings,” it said.
The Cork Medical Centre was officially opened last October. Dr Joseph Sheehan of Sheehan Medical, who founded the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin with his brother Dr Jimmy Sheehan, was optimistic about the hospital’s future plans to employ 500 people when fully operational.
The new 135,000sq ft hospital was scheduled to employ 75 doctors on site, including some 25 consultants who have already agreed contracts.
They were to be supported by 100 ancillary staff, with a further 350 new positions being created to operate the hospital.