Portiuncula University Hospital ( ga, Ospidéal Ollscoile Phortiuncula) is a public hospital located in

Ballinasloe Ballinasloe ( ; ) is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway in Connacht. Located at an ancient crossing point on the River Suck, evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Bronze Age sites. Built around a 12th-ce ...

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is managed by

Saolta University Health Care Group The Saolta University Health Care Group ( ga, Grúpa Cúram Sláinte Ollscoile Saolta) is one of the hospital groups established by the Health Service Executive in Ireland. History The grouping of hospitals was announced by Ireland's then Minister ...

History

The

Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood The Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood, founded in 1947, is an international congregation of religious sisters that serves in 11 countries, both in the developed and developing world. It serves in various schools, prisons, and hospit ...

opened a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...

at "Mount Pleasant" in 1943, and

John Dignan John Dignan (13 June 1880 – 12 April 1953) was Bishop of Clonfert from 1924 until his death in 1953, a committed social reformer and initiator of early debates about social welfare provision in the early decades of newly-independent Ireland. E ...

, the bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Clonfert The Diocese of Clonfert ( ga, Deoise Chluain Fearta) is a Roman Catholic diocese in the western part of Ireland. It is in the Metropolitan Province of Tuam. The Most Reverend Michael Duignan was appointed by the Holy See on 16 July 2019 and o ...

, invited them to found a hospital, which opened on 9 April 1945. The nuns named their hospital after

Portiuncula Portiuncula, also spelled Porziuncola or Porzioncula, is a small Catholicism, Catholic church located within the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels in Assisi in the ''frazione'' of Santa Maria degli Angeli (Assisi), Santa Maria degli Ange ...

in Italy, the place where

Franciscanism , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

began. The hospital changed its name from Portiuncula General Hospital to Portiuncula University Hospital in November 2015.

Services

The hospital provides 195 in-patient beds and 25 day case beds.

Performance

In July 2014 a number of serious hygiene issues were raised during an unscheduled inspection of the hospital by

Health Information and Quality Authority The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA, ; Irish: ''An t-Údarás um Fhaisnéis agus Cáilíocht Sláinte'' ) is a statutory, government-funded agency in Ireland which monitors the safety and quality of the healthcare and social care sy ...

(HIQA). These issues concerned the management of blood monitoring equipment at the hospital, and inspectors found blood-stained sticky tape on a window sill beside a patient's bed, as well as failure to dispose of used blood sampling equipment. Inspectors also found the fixtures of the hospital to be in a state of disrepair. The report recommended a "more robust system of managing and maintaining such equipment is put in place to mitigate the risks to patients and staff of acquiring a healthcare association infection".

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control 1943 establishments in Ireland Ballinasloe Hospitals established in 1943 Hospitals in County Galway Health Service Executive hospitals Hospital buildings completed in 1943