Work to start on St Vincent’s next year

THE LONG-AWAITED nursing facility at St Vincent’s Hospital in Athy is expected to begin construction in 2026 after it received planning permission in 2023.

Kildare South TD Mark Wall shared the positive update regarding the development of a new community nursing facility at St Vincent’s Hospital, Athy in his opening address to a symposium on quality and patient safety organised by the hospital.

The proposed extension is to include 92 beds and over 7,000 square metres of floor area, including single-storey dementia wards, with the demolition of the five prefab wings that are currently in use.

The project will be completed in two phases, with a 48-bed unit being delivered first at the rear of the site and a further 44 beds delivered in phase two of the development. The latter will include ten-bed dementia units and three courtyards.

Significant landscaping is planned for the six hectares (15 acres), including a public plaza at the front and a ‘reflection’ garden.

The building is also planned as a ‘near zero’ on its building energy report (BER), and will have an array of PV cells to generate the building’s own electricity.

The prefabs have been on site for 34 years, as permission was granted for the first of them in 1989.

Deputy Wall relayed the update he received from the HSE: “I have been informed that the preparation of the final tenders for the first phase continues. It is hoped that construction will begin in the first half of 2026, with phase one to take 18 months of construction. I have been also informed that some preparation work will hopefully be carried out in the coming months once the new daycare centre is complete.

“St Vincent’s Hospital in Athy has been at the heart of delivering exceptional care for our older people, and indeed this proud tradition stretches back as far as 1844.

“So many people hold St Vincent’s in high regard, and it is a source of pride to the people of Athy that this wonderful facility is located in the town. These latest developments are most welcome and will only further enhance the exceptional care provided to older people at St Vincent’s.” 

Cllr Aoife Breslin said the development is “absolutely to be welcomed”. 

Cllr Breslin recalled when her own mother spent time in the care of St Vincent’s Hospital, Athy due to dementia and Alzheimer’s, and praised the wonderful staff who provide fantastic care there.

She said: “It’s great to see that the new wing of the hospital is going to construction and that it will be purposefully built for people with dementia. It is probably one of the finest hospitals in the country, and from my own family’s point of view it was a lifesaver to us over many years.

“It’s great for the town of Athy. St Vincent’s is very much part of the town and South Kildare. For a long time it has needed to be upgraded. There has been lip service to upgrade, but finally now it’s going to construction,” she concluded.