The UL Hospital Group has plans in place to the morgue capacity in preparation for a possible escalation in the number of Covid-19 deaths.
While the focus naturally is on saving lives during this pandemic they have had to prepare for the worst case scenario.
Speaking on Tipp Today earlier CEO of the UL Hospital Group Collette Cowan said it’s something they hope will never have to be used:
“We have a plan around refrigeration that will be coming in on site in the event that we need to increase our capacity.
“Equally then, from an emergency planning [point of view], there’s a ‘mass fatality’ structure after being put up in Sarsfield Barracks and that would be for mass storage. Hopefully we will never have to go there but it’s something that we have to plan for.”
Meanwhile, a number of Tipperary companies are involved in projects to increase critical capacity at HSE facilities in the mid-west.
As part of the government’s National Action Plan on Covid-19 the UL Hospital Group has progressed work on a 24-bed isolation facility on the grounds of UHL with a similar one planned for Croom Hospital.
Joe Hoare is Assistant National Director with HSE Estates and he told Tipp Today this morning that Tipperary-based companies are ensuring that the buildings will be operational as soon as possible.
He also says increased capacity for oxygen is being put in place at both UHL and South Tipp General to deal with any extra demand during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The HSE has been working with B.O.C gasses to improve capacity at hospitals across the country.
