CF Building Projects

When the severe financial recession in Ireland kicked in around 2010, it became immediately apparent that there would be no public funding available to make improvements to CF hospital centres. So the CFI board and local branches embarked on a massive fund-raising programme to raise the resources ourselves, a task made more challenging by the recession. During this period over 14 million euro was raised for these building developments.

The standout achievements included:

2011: 4 bed unit in Crumlin Children’s Hospital
The formal opening of the new 4 bed isolation, inpatient unit at Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin took place in October 2011 with former President Mary McAleese and the Archbishop of Dublin Dr. Diarmuid Martin.

CFI provided €750,000 towards the development of the unit in 2009/2010 which was provided from a range of fundraising initiatives including the One in 1,000 Campaign for the Women's Mini Marathon and the Shane Kinsella Foundation. 

CF Building Projects
The official opening of the CF Inpatient Unit in Crumlin
CF Building Projects
The official opening of the CF Paediatric Outpatient Unit in Drogheda


2014: Outpatient facility in Drogheda Hospital for children and young people
The official opening of the new CF paediatric Outpatient Unit at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda took place in April 2014. The new unit was the culmination of many years of dedicated hard work undertaken by the Louth, Meath and Dundalk Branches of CF Ireland. 

The clinic cost €670,000 to build, of which €570,000 was raised through fundraising and charitable donations. The remaining €100,000 was provided through a grant from the national lottery support by Minister for Health, James Reilly, TD.

The outpatient unit was dedicated to the memory of Paddy Kierans, a Drogheda man who was a tireless champion for CF Ireland. 


2014: Cavan Outpatient Suites
Minister for Health, James Reilly, TD officially opened the Cystic Fibrosis Outpatient Suite at Cavan General Hospital in April 2014.

The new suite contains two outpatient treatment rooms, which provides a separate designated area for both adults and children with CF to receive their care and treatment in and reduce the risk of cross infection. This project was a join initiative between Cavan and Monaghan Hospital and the Cavan Branch of CFI. 


2014: CF outpatient unit in Galway for children and young people 
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, TD officially opened the new outpatient unit for children and young people with CF in University Hospital Galway (UHG) in July 2014. The unit is a dedicated specialist facility for day-care and outpatient services for approximately 40 children and young people with CF attending UHG, where they can be treated in a physical environment specifically designed to reduce the risk of cross infection. 

The centre was a partnership between the hospital, the HSE and Cystic Fibrosis Galway - the Galway branch of CF Ireland. 

CF Building Projects
Taoiseach Enda Kenny opening the CF outpatient unit in University Hospital Galway in 2014
CF Building Projects
Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the official opening of the CF Outpatient Unit in Castlebar in 2015


 
   
2015: New outpatient unit in Mayo Hospital

The CF outpatient Unit in Castlebar opened in 2015. The unit cost approximately €1.3 million which was raised through a combination of local and national fundraising by CF Ireland, CF West and the Mayo Branch of CF Ireland. 

CF West is a regional fundraising group of CF Ireland set up to help promote the work of the Mayo Building Fund which has been running since 2008. There are in the region of 50 families who have one or more Persons with CF in the Mayo, North Galway area who attend Mayo General Hospital.
 

2015: Cork CF inpatient unit
An 8 room CF inpatient unit in Cork University Hospital opened in December 2015. Most of the capital funding was raised by a local CF charity, Build4Life with the help of many members of CF Ireland. Over €2.3 million was raised for the project. The unit will provide 8 dedicated CF rooms and a further 2 if necessary in an adjoining ward.


2016: 4 bed CF unit for children and young people in Waterford Hospital
A four room paediatric CF inpatient unit in University Hospital Waterford opened in 2016. CF Ireland and in particular the Waterford Branch of CFI contributed €200,000 to this unit which was built in partnership with the hospital.


2016: 7 bed CF inpatient unit and completely new outpatient unit in Limerick Hospital
In 2008, the CF branches in Tipperary, Limerick and Clare set out on a journey to improve services for people with CF in the mid-west region and this partnership became known as TLC4CF. TLC4CF set out to develop adequate facilities and specialist services for CF within University Hospital Limerick.

Since then, TLC4CF with the support of CF Ireland have raised over €6 million to invest in the construction of a new specialist adult CF inpatient and outpatient unit in University Hospital Limerick.

Minister for Health, Simon Harris, TD officially opened the Leben building (which houses the new CF floors) in 2016.

CF Building Projects
Minister for Health, Simon Harris officially opened the CF Units in Limerick Hospital in 2016
CF Building Projects
Minister for Health, Simon Harris at the opening of the CF paediatric inpatient facility in Cavan General Hospital


2017: 2 bed in patient unit for children and young people in Cavan Hospital

In November 2017, Minister for Health, Simon Harris, TD officially opened the new cystic fibrosis paediatric in-patient facility at Cavan General Hospital. The unit is a partnership initiative between CF Ireland and the HASE. CF Ireland, and in particular its branch members in Cavan, contributed €350,000 to this project. A further €100,000 was also secured for the project by CFI from the National Lottery funding. 

The facility will provide a state-of-the-art inpatient unit for children and young people with CF in the greater Cavan area. The unit is a tribute to the work of the Cavan Branch of CF Ireland over many years. 

2017-present: Fundraising for adult out-patient unit in Galway hospital

2014- present: Campaigning for new CF adult in-patient unit in Beaumont Hospital

In May 2016, the Programme for a Partnership Government set out a clear commitment to ‘immediately proceed to the design and planning stage for a dedicated CF unit at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin for inclusion in the 2017 Capital Plan review’.

In November 2018, Cystic Fibrosis Ireland and local North Dublin charity, CF Hopesource, addressed members of the Oireachtas in Leinster House at a meeting hosted by the Deputy Leader of the Seanad, Senator Catherine Noone. Members of the Oireachtas heard of the deep upset and frustration felt by the CF community who, two-and-a-half years later, are still waiting for this Government to honour its promise.

Beaumont is one of the five nationally-designated adult specialist centres for cystic fibrosis (CF), yet it continues to not meet the required standards in terms of patient care and facilities.  

Currently, there are 160 people with CF who attend Beaumont Hospital. With just seven in-patient rooms, this means a ratio of approximately 23 patients for every bed with long delays for those seeking to access inpatient care, and likely to get even worse as winter approaches.

In the summer of 2019, planning permission was granted for the proposed 20-room-inpatient unit in Beaumont Hospital. 

The final decision on when this project receives funding is still to be taken by Government. CF Ireland and CF Hopesource have pledged to fundraise one million euro towards the cost of the project. 

CF Building Projects
CF Ireland and CF Hopesource campaigning for the new CF adult inpatient unit in Beaumont Hospital
CF Building Projects
CF Ireland and CF Hopesource have pledged to fundraise one million euro towards the cost of the CF inpatient unit in Beaumont