Significant progress is currently being made on the ambitious infrastructure Masterplan for the University Hospital Galway (UHG) and Merlin Park University Hospital (MPUH), designed to transform healthcare delivery across the west and north-west of Ireland over the next 25 years.

University Hospital Galway, the only Model 4 Hospital in HSE West North West and one of the busiest hospitals in the country, is advancing a Development Control Plan (DCP) that outlines a phased approach to expand and modernise the campus. This plan will guide capital submissions for a series of priority construction projects while ensuring continued hospital operations.

Key projects in the pipeline for UHG include:

• Two new Ward Blocks, each providing 150 acute beds with shell and core floors for later fit-outs including maternity and diagnostic services;

• An Ambulatory Cancer Centre;

• A new Laboratory Block;

• A new Emergency, ICU and Surgical block;

• A new, permanent helipad which allows the hospital to be futureproofed for the next 40 years is a vital component of this work.

The final stages of the development control plan includes the following additional accommodation:

• An enlarged Main Entrance

• An enlarged Paediatric/Maternity Centre

• Facilities for Staff, Research and Education.

These upgrades aim to address the challenges of outdated and sub-optimal facilities while enhancing capacity and services for a population of over 850,000 people.

In tandem with the UHG developments, Merlin Park University Hospital is seeing major construction activity aligned with the overall Masterplan strategy. Lower-complexity elective and day case procedures, along with outpatient services, are shifting to this campus, freeing up space at UHG for more complex acute, oncology, maternity, and paediatric care.

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The infrastructure developments ongoing in Merlin Park involve:

• Construction of a new surgical hub which is expected to open in Q2 2026. When operating at full capacity the hub has the potential to carry out day case operations and minor surgical procedures from 8am to 8pm, six days a week.

• A site has been identified to build a new elective hospital for the region. This project is currently in stage one design, enabling works are progressing to de-risk the site in advance of the main construction phase. The new elective hospital will provide significant additional capacity, enabling the separation of scheduled and unscheduled care.

• Outpatient services are being decanted to the Merlin Park site. The build for Phase One of the Outpatient Department block in MPUH was completed in 2024 and the building became operational earlier this year. Phase Two of this development which will enable the relocation of further outpatient appointments to Merlin Park is currently at design stage. This decanting of services to Merlin Park is a key to unlocking the space to deliver the additional capacity on the UHG campus.

Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill recently visited both UHG and Merlin Park to review the progress of these significant infrastructure projects. She met with HSE management and frontline staff to discuss the vision and execution of the UHG Masterplan and toured ongoing works at Merlin Park, including the newly opened Outpatient Department and the proposed elective hospital site.

Speaking during her visit, Minister Carroll MacNeill said: "I'm very pleased to be here today to see the impact of the Government's significant investment in Galway University Hospitals, both at Merlin Park University Hospital and University Hospital Galway. It was a pleasure to meet with and thank staff in the newly opened Outpatient Department and Cystic Fibrosis Units at Merlin Park, which represent a combined investment of almost €19 million.

"I also met with the team to discuss plans to modernise Galway University Hospitals and I'm excited to see the real progress being made with the new Surgical Hub for the region. I know the team in Galway have worked closely with officials in my Department to develop a holistic plan that is comprehensive and deliverable.

"The upgrading, modernising and expansion of patient facilities in Galway will contribute to improved waiting times and greater care for patients not just in Galway but across the West and North West region."

The infrastructure investment represents a pivotal step toward delivering safer, more efficient and person-centred healthcare well into the future.

Photo credit: @HSE_West_NWest on X.