Cllr Frankie Keena

Is Clonbrusk the right location for a Primary Care Centre? Commenting on the exclusive story in last week’s Westmeath Independent Cllr. Frankie Keena said that it was disgraceful to read that over €1m of taxpayer’s money had been squandered on the Clonbrusk site and still with no improved health services in Athlone. I am aware that the HSE have put a portion of the site up for sale with the condition that a developer would build a primary care centre and lease it back to the HSE, he said. Subsequently Athlone Medical Partnership secured planning permission for a much scaled down version of a primary care centre similar to the one in Roscommon with the understanding that the contract will be signed in a couple of months time. While this has to be welcomed I ask the question as to why should Athlone have to accept a scaled down primary care centre? I would hope that the powers to be are not just of the opinion of giving Athlone something small to keep them quiet, he declared. Also I ask the question as to why the HSE are going to such rounds in getting the private sector to build a new building when there is presently a ready made building in Athlone Town Centre with the appropriate planning for a medical facility? The advantages of locating such a facility in the town centre are as follows: 1. It is within reach of the heavy footfall of pedestrians. 2. It is located beside the majority of Doctor’s surgeries. 3. There is an underground car park serving the building. 4. It is beside both Iarnrod Eireann & Bus Eireann stations. 5. It could be leased to the HSE at a more competitive rate, thus saving money to the taxpayer. 6. A Primary Care Unit could be up and running in Athlone before Christmas. 7. The Private Health Sector would be willing to bring their services to locate in Town Centre as well. Over the years I have always been a strong advocate in trying to get better health services into Athlone. The slow pace by the public sector in moving things along forced me to try the private sector route. I am glad to say that I received warm positive responses and in particular within the area of diagnostics. The difficulty in tying it down is that they are not interested in moving into the Clonbrusk site, they want to co-locate with the HSE in an urban centre based location, said Cllr. Keena. I am now calling on Deputy Nicky McFadden to request the HSE & the Government to explore the possibility of locating this unit in the Town Centre before this contract is signed. There can be no harm in contacting the owners of this property to see if the HSE can get a better deal, he stated. In my opinion every option should be put on the table to make sure that the people of Athlone and surrounding areas get the best offer in relation to health services, he concluded.