A 100-bed private hospital and clinic is to be built in the grounds of a luxury Co Limerick hotel.
The €100 million development at the Adare Manor Hotel, due to open in 2007, will create 380 jobs and include six operating theatres, two radiology suites, cardiac units and MRI facilities.
Tom Kane, of developers Adare Partners, said the decision to build the multi-million euro centre was taken after a needs assessment of the area in 2002. "It soon became clear that there is a major need for additional medical facilities in the mid west region," he said.
Other services at the Adare Hospital & Clinic will include a day surgery centre, and an emergency service for non-critical patients. There will also be a cardiac catherisation suite, an interventional radiology suite magnetic resonance imaging and CAT scanning facilities.
There will also be 30 consultant suites and diagnostic and treatment facilities.
Dr Ed Walsh will chair the hospital steering committee and Prof Eric Masterson will chair the medical advisory group.
The development of private hospitals has sparked controversy among health care workers with a campaign begun last week against the privatisation of services.
The offensive, led by the Health Services Action Group, and supported by the Irish Nurses Organisation and the Irish Medical Organisation, is set to stage protests and demonstrations across the country in the coming weeks.
Other private-funded hospitals around the country include Beacon Hospital, south Dublin, Blackrock Clinic, Dundalk Clinic and Barringtons in Limerick.
PA