A CLOUD hung over St Francis Medical Centre in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, for many years after the Voluntary Health Insurance Board refused to cover patients who attended the hospital, the High Court was told yesterday.
In the Supreme Court three years ago the hospital, which is owned by the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady, won a long-running legal battle against the VHIB. The court decided that the case should go back to the High Court to assess the nuns' claim for damages against the board.
The nuns are claiming more than Pounds 8 million in compensation against the VHIB. The claim is being contested by the board, which is also challenging the method used to compute it.
Mr Patrick Keane SC, for the hospital trustees, told the High Court yesterday that a considerable cloud hung over the hospital for many years after it was delisted by the board. It was widely felt that it was about to close down completely.
Mr Keane said that Franciscan missionaries in other countries provided the nuns with financial assistance to keep the hospital open.
One of the most extraordinary features of the case, he said, was the loyalty shown by hospital staff, who did not cash their wage cheques and borrowed money from their banks on behalf of the hospital to enable it to survive.
Mr Frank Clarke SC, for the VHIB, said the Supreme Court ruled that the hospital was only entitled to seek damages on foot of its claim that the board had exercised its statutory powers unreasonably and unfairly and that such damages were to be assessed by the High Court.
The hospital was not entitled to put forward a claim for aggravated or exemplary damages. It was not entitled to change its case from that which was made before the Supreme Court.
The action, which is being heard by Mr Justice Moriarty, continues today.