Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown

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Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown (Irish: Ospidéal Uí Chonghaile, Baile Bhlainséir) (formerly James Connolly Memorial Hospital) is a public university teaching hospital in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1955 as an asylum for tuberculosis (TB) patients. It is run by the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) and currently serves a population of over 290,000. As of May 2007, the hospital provides 242 in-patient beds and 29 day beds.

[edit] History

Ireland's rampant TB problems in the 1950s led to the construction of many specialist centres throughout the Republic. Connolly Hospital served as such a facility until the advent of more efficacious antibiotic treatment in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1973, the hospital was redesignated as a General Hospital for the North West area of Dublin.

In the early 1980s, a number of prefabricated buildings were added to allow for more beds to be provided. These buildings remain intact, but are now due to be removed since the completion of expansion and upgrade developments which began in 1995.

Since January 1, 2005, Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown operates in Dublin's Hospital Network 10 with Beaumont Hospital, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital, Rotunda Hospital and Children’s University Hospital Temple Street.

[edit] Teaching

The hospital acts as a training facility for medical, nursing and allied health professionals, working closely with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Dublin City University (DCU), the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and University College Dublin (UCD). As of 2007, Connolly Hospital is the base for clinical teaching in the Graduate Entry Program to Medicine in RCSI, with the new building being opened by Minister Brian Lenihan in May 2007.