Valentia Hospital

In 1865 the Anglo American Telegraph Company constructed the first Transatlantic Cable Station in a wooden house on Valentia . When they built a permanent Cable Station at Knightstown in 1870, the Post Office presented this wooden building to the people of Valentia Island. The Knight of Kerry who was resident in Knightstown at the time donated a section of land and the wooden building was dismantled and moved to Knightstown. It was then set up as the first hospital on Valentia and was (and still is) managed by a voluntary board. The building was able to accommodate 14 patients and one nurse. It served as a general hospital for the people of Valentia and Portmagee and there were even surgeries performed there until the 1960’s. There is an operating table, known as the Connolly table which was gifted by the Dr Stephens hospital in Dublin, it was used in the surgery on James Connolly’s leg. 

RECENT PAST                                                                

The wooden building has since been replaced by a more permanent structure and it was extended and renovated many times but approx. ten years ago we were informed by HSE of the need to construct a large extension to facilitate 24 beds to cope with the ageing local population. So the board embarked on a fundraising campaign. There was a huge response from the general public and we were able to raise substantial sum of money. The Government also made a one-off contribution and we constructed a state of the art facility. The cost to date has been in the region of €1.3 m. The Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle proved to be our main source of fundraising during the course of this major project

WORK WE DO

Nowadays, the work is predominantly focused on the care of the elderly. We have a 24 bed facility, 20 rooms are single rooms with ensuite and integrated electric hoist. Two of the beds are paid for by the HSE and are for short stay respite residents (patients). Twenty two beds are for long-stay care and are paid for through the National Treatment Purchase Fund. 

ETHOS

For those in our care, we recognize the hospital is their home and there is a very homely atmosphere in the building. The ethos of the hospital is that the residents are treated with the most excellent level of care possible. The resident is front and centre of everything we do and their needs are paramount. As a board we recognise that our primary aim is the care and wellbeing of the residents and we are very proud of our staff, their hard work and diligence. So many relatives of residents both current and former have testified that the level of care is as good as if the resident was at home in their own house.

FUNDING

Our only sources of funding are from the HSE for two respite beds and from the NTPF for the other 22 beds. The NTPF funding is only paid when the beds are occupied, and no money is paid if a bed is not occupied. We do not get any other state funding for building, maintenance or anything else, it is up to ourselves to be viable, there is no bailout coming from any department. 

NEED 

We extended from 16 beds to 24 beds in recent years and we had full occupancy in the first three years. There was a decline last year (possibly a delayed reaction in the community to Covid) but we are at 95% occupancy again now which underlines the NEED for the hospital in the area. The nearest (apart from Caherciveen) would be Killorglin or Kenmare and we feel that locating local people in their final years completely outside of their own environment and far from families and friends would be damaging to their health and wellbeing. Many of our residents have lived their entire lives in the Iveragh area. We need a further €100,000 to complete the installation of a new generator plus ancillary work, replace ageing appliances (kitchen and laundry equipment will cost €25,000) and refurbish the older section of the building. We have recently been informed that our gas tanks for the heating system will need to be relocated in line with new guidelines. This will again involve structural works in the car park and storages areas.

We also recently had an energy audit and we now have plans to make Valentia Hospital more energy efficient and sustainable into the future with the planned installation of a solar PV package. There are also plans to install car chargers and examine other ways of future proofing the building. We also need to reconfigure the old section of the building as this area has been largely under utilised since the new section opened in 2018.

We are appealing for funds to be raised through the Ring of Kerry Charity Cycle to enable us to get this major project over the line and ensure the building is compliant with all regulatory standards and guarantee the continuation of the hospital and service to the community for generations to come.

Thank you so much for your support.