Bloomfield officially opens Stage 2 of Development

06.12.09

Mary Harney T.D, Minister for Health and Children, returned to the state of the art Bloomfield Care Centre in Stocking Lane, Rathfarnham, Co Dublin on Friday 12th June 2009 at 10.00am to officially open Stage 2 of the development – adding an additional 76 extended care beds to the centre, together with a new day care facility, research and training centre.

Located on a 10 acre site overlooking Dublin, the first stage of the purpose-built Bloomfield Care Centre, which was opened by the Minister in 2005, was built at a cost of €24 million. The 4,290 square metre building provided 72 extended care beds; a 36-bed nursing home facility for frail elderly patients with physical care needs, and a 36-bed mental health facility for patients with dementia or serious and enduring mental illness. The centre is multi-denominational. In 2005, following the closure of the Jewish Home of Ireland, its residents transferred to Bloomfield.

Stage 2 of the development is now complete, and this new (4,408 square metre) extension accommodates an additional 76 extended care beds, a specialised day care centre, occupational therapy and physiotherapy units, together with teaching and conference facilities. Kylemore Clinic, a long established care centre in Ballybrack Co Dublin, has transferred its operations to Bloomfield and the majority of its 30 residents have now relocated to the Kylemore Wing of the new development. Trinity College Dublin has partnered with Bloomfield Care Centre with teaching facilities linked to the College.

The development came in below the estimated budget of €25 million, which included a substantial contribution of €17 million from the HSE towards capital costs, as part of its Capital Development Plan. The new development utilises sustainable energy initiatives such as rainwater harvesting and received grant aid from Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) for its gas-powered electricity generation facility.

Commenting at the launch Dr Ian Daly, Clinical Director of Bloomfield, referenced the strategic association between Bloomfield and the HSE and said; “Bloomfield will adopt a specific community focus that will complement the developing clinical trend towards early diagnosis by focussing on individual advance care planning, and developing early interventions that will support older persons and their carers to maintain community tenure for as long as is possible. We will facilitate ‘progression’ models of care, so that progression to and from higher dependency levels can be pre-planned and coordinated.”

Bloomfield Care Centre is a purpose built facility that replaced the original hospital, in use since the nineteenth century, which was located on Bloomfield Avenue in Donnybrook, Dublin 4. Stage 1 of the Stocking Lane development followed a successful and innovative agreement with Galway based Gerry Barrett of Radical Properties (TBC) to swap the valuable Donnybrook site for the purpose built facilities on the new site in Rathfarnham.

The completion of stage 2 of the development is a significant landmark for Bloomfield, which has been caring for the elderly since it opened in 1812. Founded by personal subscriptions from members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) the hospital opened to treat the mentally ill in a more caring and enlightened manner than that generally prevalent at the time. Bloomfield remains under the control of a voluntary Board of Directors of whom the majority are members of the Religious Society of Friends and remains true to its original ideals.

The Stocking Lane complex is also the location of the Quaker House that houses the administrative offices of the Society, the Historical Library with its valuable Quaker records and a Meeting House for Friends.

Download the Bloomfield Commemorative Booklet