Letterkenny General Hospital is a 340 beddedGeneral Hospital, which provides a wide range of acute hospital services on an in-patient, day-case and out-patient basis. The most recent addition to the overall bed capacity was in March 2007 when an additional 29 beds were commissioned. A new Emergency Department incorporating a medical assessment unit is currently under construction with expected completion date of Apring 2011. The four storey building will also accommodate three new medical wards with a total bed capacity of 72 beds. An acute mental health is also under construction with a bed capacity of 34 beds. Services provided include:

• Anaesthesiology
• Audiology
• Cardiology / Coronary Care
• Cardiac Rehabilitation
• Chaplaincy
• Day Medical Unit
• Day Surgery Unit including Pre-admissions Assessment Clinic
• Dermatology
• Dietetic Department
• Discharge Co-ordinators
• Ear, Nose & Throat / Head & Neck Oncology
• Emergency Medicine
• Gastroenterology
• General Internal Medicine
• General Surgery including Breast Care
• Genito Urinary Medicine
• Gynaecology
• Haematology
• Histopathology
• Intensive Care
• Oncology
• Medicine for the Elderly
• Medical Rehabilitation
• Obstetrics
• Occupational Therapy
• Oncology
• Orthopaedics
• Ophthalmology Consultation Services
• Paediatrics/NNICU
• Palliative Care
• Pastoral Care
• Pharmacy
• Phlebotomy
• Physiotherapy
• Pulmonary Rehabilitation
• Podiatry
• Radiology
• Renal Dialysis
• Social Work Department
• Speech & Language Therapy
• Sexual Assault Treatment Unit
• Urology
• Wound

In addition there is a full range of clinical and non-clinical support services available on site including Four Main Theatres; two days services theatre; endoscopy unit; a dedicated Maternity Theatre adjacent to the Maternity Unit; a CSSD Department; a Pathology/Laboratory Department; Pharmacy Department; Radiology; and a range of clinical investigation services.

Part of the mainLetterkenny General Hospital campus includes an Acute Psychiatric In-patient Unit. This facility provides patients requiring admission as a result of an acute episode of mental health illness. The unit is currently located off-site temporarily while the new unit is under construction. The expected date of completion is Spring 2011.

The overall campus is divided by a main road. Across the road is the St. Conal’s building, a former psychiatric hospital. As well as accommodating a broad range of primary care services, it also accommodates a medical rehabilitation unit, a cardiac rehabilitation unit and the pulmonary rehabilitation unit. A Laundry Department that serves the overall campus and an industrial Occupational Therapy Unit is also located in this building.

Letterkenny General Hospitalconsists of a one storey building, which was the originally built in 1959. This area includes the Emergency Department, Outpatients Department, Radiology, Pharmacy, Laboratory, 3 Medical Wards, Acute Psychiatric Unit, Cardiac Investigations and Coronary Care Unit. Directly linked by a connecting corridor is a five storey block commissioned in 1981, incorporating Day Services (including Oncology & Endoscopy Unit), Gynaecology, Maternity, Medical Ward, Orthopaedics, Surgical Wards, Theatre, Intensive Care, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and CSSD – 5 ICU Beds, 8 CCU Beds & 23 DSU beds. In 2001, a new four storey block was commissioned consisting of the oncology unit, maternity theatre and renal dialysis unit.

Recent Service Developments

Letterkenny General Hospital (LGH) is one of the approved sites for the delivery of symptomatic breast care service. It is aligned to the UniversityCollege Hospital in Galway via a multi disciplinary clinical network. A permanent Breast Care Surgeon was appointed in August 2008.

LGH is the regional centre for nephrology services covering counties Sligo & Leitrim as well as Donegal following the appointment of a consultant nephrologist in 2006.

A Consultant Cardiologist was appointed in 2007 and he has initiated an angiography service that is facilitated by a visiting angiography unit.

The appointment of two new Consultant Radiologists to the hospital in 2007 has led to the provision of interventional radiology procedures such as the insertion of venous access lines, urological stenting and release of renal obstruction.

Recent appointments also include a Respiratory Physician, a Consultant Oncologist, a consultant Haematologist, a second Consultant in Emergency Medicine, a third consultant Pathologist, an eight consultant Anaesthetist, consultant Microbiologist, consultant Cardiologist and consultant Gastroenterologist.

Work on the new Emergency Department commenced in January 2009 with the project to be completed in early 2011 with a total cost of €22million. The new facility will provide 3 medical floors which will consist of a total of 72 beds, two thirds of which will be provided in single rooms, which will be state of the art and to the highest infection control standards. The new Emergency Department will incorporate an 11 bed Medical Assessment Unit and X-Ray room and will have19 treatment spaces. It will improve greatly the facilities for our patients.

Catchment Area.

Letterkenny General Hospitalserves the population ofCounty Donegal of 140,000 (bar the south of Laghey/Pettigo line).