The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, has announced the appointment of a design team for the €18 million redevelopment of Ennis General Hospital.
The hospital is one of three in the Mid-Western Health Board area that is due to have its A&E downgraded as a result of Hanly report recommendations.
Consultant anaesthetist Dr William O'Brien said yesterday he was "delighted".
A member of the campaign team to retain A&E services at Ennis General, Dr O'Brien said, "I was disillusioned with the publication of Hanly last year but this plan makes Ennis General hospital too valuable to the region to downgrade."
Critics of the Hanly plan pointed to overcrowding at Limerick Regional Hospital's A&E last Tuesday, when there were 33 patients waiting on trolleys for admission.
Under the Hanly report, the region's 24 A&E services are to be centralised at Limerick as a result of proposed downgrading at Ennis and Nenagh. Senator Brendan Daly (FF) said yesterday that the appointment of a design team for the redevelopment of the hospital is a vote of confidence in the future of acute medical services for Clare.
