BY JOE BARRETT
A CALL has gone out to people in Laois to rally in Mountmellick on 5 December to protest at the closure of wards in St Vincent’s Hospital.
The call was made at a meeting in Mountmellick on Monday night, when up to 50 people gathered to express their anger at recent bed closures in the hospital.
They called on the HSE to rescind the bed closures and on the junior minister of health John Moloney, who lives in the town, to support their campaign.
Co-chairing the meeting, cllr Pat Bowe said that there are only three patients left in the 25-bed St Joseph’s ward. He said: “We just can’t stand by and watch it close. We have to do all we can to have the ward reopened and look for further improvements in the hospital.”
Co-chair Robert O’Mara said: “We need to rescind this decision. Patients are very upset at being moved out of the wards they call their homes. I ask that people come out and stand in solidarity with the patients.”
Cllr Denis O’Mara said the bed closures did not just affect the elderly patients from Mountmellick, but from all around the county, as well as Offaly.
Parish priest Fr Michael McNamara said there had always been a close relationship between the hospital and the people of Mountmellick.
He said: “We accept there have to be cutbacks, but we have to make our presence felt. We want our hospital and we want to retain that unique relationship.”
Cllr Bowe said: “We have to stand up and be counted on this one.” Ger Lynch said: “We need to be increasing beds because of our increasing ageing population.”
Another man said: “We have to go out from the town and let people know what’s happening here.”
Robert O’Mara said: “This is the time to take action. We have to have our voices heard and it starts here tonight.” Pattie Mahon asked: “St Joseph’s ward is being closed. Is that all they’ll close?”
Donal Keenan said: “The taoiseach gets votes in this area. Invite him to our next meeting. If this was happening in Drumcondra, Bertie Ahern’s area, it wouldn’t be allowed happen.” Another man said: “I worked 40 years in that hospital and I never thought I’d see patients being blocked from entering the hospital. It’s a disgrace.”
Another speaker said: “We should arrange a march and aim to bring ten to 15,000 people out onto the streets of Mountmellick protesting over the (ward) closures. We should call on people from every village, town and parish of Laois to protest and keep our hospital open.”
Cllr Paddy Bracken said he fully supported the call to protest and called for the lifting of the government employment embargo.
A man said: “I can’t understand it. Wards are being closed and elderly people are being put in private nursing homes with their homes now being put up as payment.”
John Joe Fogarty said: “I can recall the early ‘80s when the nuns left the hospital in a good bill of health. There were 80 more patients in it than there are now, with only two people overseeing the staff and patients. We want to tell the HSE to move out of the way. We want the hospital to go back to the way it was done best.”
It was at this stage of the meeting that a committee was formed. It was then agreed a protest march would be held in Mountmellick on 5 December.
The next meeting is taking place this Monday night, 23 November, in the Macra hall in Mountmellick at 8pm.