Winter 2018 Issue
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Update from Ireland: Building a Pediatric Urgent Care Center from the Ground up
Plans and construction for Ireland’s first Pediatric Urgent Care center continue at full speed. You may recall previous SPUC features on the plans in Ireland and Dr. Ciara Martin, who we met when she attended SPUC’s conference in Seattle last fall. SPUC Past-President Peg Orcutt-Tuddenham later visited Dr. Martin in Ireland where she spoke to professionals of the National Children’s Health Group at the Tallaght Hospital in Dublin.
Much can happen in a few months, as you can see from recent photos shared with SPUC. Significant progress comes from Connolly Hospital (a hospital named after James Connolly an Irish republican and socialist born in Scotland to Irish parents) Connolly Hospital is slated to open next year. This hospital is an adult hospital and this is the first time that there will be a children's medical focus on that campus.
Ciara Martin tells us they recently received government approval for staffing and will be recruiting PEM specialists, nurses, radiologists and radiographers and administrators over the coming months. They recently interviewed for an urgent care centre manager who will work with a clinical integration team and with the commissioning and transitioning team. PEM teams meet regularly to look at standardizing procedures, policies, etc. and to design rosters – not an easy job in the middle of a busy winter!
Dr. Martin says since this will be the country’s first pediatric urgent care center. “We will need to be clear on their scope of practice and have clear messaging for families and local primary care practitioners.” She says that will be the focus during the next few months.
The second building will be on the grounds of Dr. Martin’s hospital in Tallaght. That hospital will close its emergency department and become an urgent care centre. We plan follow-up communications and reports from Ireland.
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SPUC Fourth Annual Conference
October 4-7, 2018
Nemours Children’s Hospital
Orlando, FL
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