THE HSE HAS confirmed this evening that it has bought the Mount Carmel Hospital.
The closure of the private hospital after 65 years was announced in January of this year, after liquidators were appointed.
Around 300 staff lost their jobs as a result of the liquidation.
Today, the HSE said:
The HSE can confirm that it has purchased Mount Carmel hospital but are not in a position to confirm the cost. The primary purpose of the facility will be for step down services that will be commissioned sometime next year.
In February, the then-Health Minister James Reilly and representatives from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation appeared before the Oireachtas Health Committee to discuss the closure.
Reilly said at the time that State purchase of Mount Carmel was never a viable option, but that the hospital would have moved into profitability this year if allowed to stay open.
He added that 328 jobs were sacrificed at Mount Carmel Hospital for the balance of just €2 million.
NAMA acquired the hospital’s loans in 2010 and had been working to put arrangements in place to ensure its viability.
But due to significant financial losses since then, the decision was made to close the hospital.
Some staff at the hospital had staged a sit-in over the news of the closure, back in January.
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