What your generous donations help us achieve
As people are now living longer and have more complex healthcare needs, we must provide even more specialist facilities and services of the highest quality to meet these critical requirements. We passionately believe that everyone living in our community should be able to access high quality person-centred care when they need it. We also believe that our services should be delivered in the most appropriate and effective way to meet the needs of patients and their families.
To meet these needs, and thanks to the support of our generous donors, we have been undertaking the most ambitious multi-phase project in our history; the redevelopment of our palliative care unit in Harold’s Cross, the establishment of a new hospice in Wicklow, the refurbishment of our palliative care unit in Blackrock and the evolution of our community-based services to meet growing demands and anticipated future needs.
Transforming Harold's Cross Hospice
In 2018, we officially opened our new 36 single room state-of-the-art specialist palliative care unit in Harold’s Cross, completing phase one in our redevelopment plans. 100% of the building costs (€13.6 million) was funded through the generosity of our donors who continue to be at the heart of all that we do. We are truly grateful to all our donors without whose support these ambitious plans could not be realised.
Welcoming Wicklow Hospice
Wicklow Hospice welcomed its first patients in December 2020 after ten years of incredible fundraising by the local community. It is the first in-patient facility in the county to provide specialist palliative care services for patients and their families. It is a purpose-built hospice providing 15 in-patient beds and a new base for the Wicklow Specialist Community Palliative Care team (CPCT) who visit patients in their own homes. A bank loan of €2.75 million was required to complete the build and fundraising is urgently required to cover the balance repayments as to fund on going vital patient and family enhancements such as complimentary therapies and the development of the Wicklow Hospice Gardens.
Transforming Blackrock Hospice
In 2021, we made the challenging decision to close Blackrock Hospice and relocated our patients and families to our other two hospice sites to allow for the complete refurbishment of Blackrock Hospice throughout 2022. This significant project saw us extending and upgrading our 12 bedrooms and the refurbishment of clinical, patient, visitor and grounds areas.
The redevelopment will cost c. €7m, of which philanthropy will cover 100% of the construction costs or c. €6.5m. As of March 2022, we have raised €5.9m thanks to the generosity of our donors and we look forward to your continued support as we urgently seek to fundraise the final €600k required to reach our goal.
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead, we are at final stages in refreshing our master development plan for all our services. As such, we also need to refurbish our 89-bed Residential Unit for Older Persons in Harold’s Cross, Anna Gaynor House. This is an essential development to ensure the best environment for our residential services whilst meeting regulatory requirements.
The past years has shown us the importance of the highest standard of infection control and the limitations of admitting to multi occupancy rooms. Our lived experience is that patients have a growing preference for single rooms which provide increased dignity and respect. The current multi occupancy rooms limit our ability to provide the best possible care for all who need it. This unit should be built to the same high standard as our other services giving our older population the environment that they need and deserve.
We are also developing a new community-focussed ‘out patients’ model of care to enable us to see more patients across our Rheumatology, older persons and palliative services in the most effective and efficient setting for their needs. Work on these projects has continued apace throughout covid and whilst we undertook the refurbishment at Blackrock Hospice. We will adapt and reach on future demand by increasing our outpatient capacity and support the Hospice to deliver care in the right place at the right time while enhancing care in the community and adapting many Slaintecare initiatives.
These progressive and ambitious developments will become the template for new community hospice developments in Ireland and form the basis of our specialist community services over the coming decades.
Alice Mack's Story
By supporting Our Lady's Hospice & Care Services you’ll be joining in a community of kindness, support and celebration.
Just read Alice Mack’s story. A life long hospice volunteer, Alice became a patient. One of her final hopes was that people will make a gift to support the work and the wonderful people that changed her life.
