A private hospital which was at the centre of a six-year legal battle with the VHI has announced a major development plan two years after final settlement in the case.
The Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady propose to expand St Francis Private Hospital, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, and to sell part of its lands. The proceeds of the sale will be used to develop the hospital and its services. Additional consultants are being recruited to provide new medical services. The legal proceedings with the VHI started in 1991. The nuns claimed more than £8 million compensation after a board decision to refuse cover to anyone who attended the hospital that year.
In 1994, the nuns won their case in the Supreme Court, which sent the case back to the High Court to assess damages. Three years later, the VHI was believed to have paid just under £4 million compensation and the costs of the case.
The nuns had rejected a £2 million offer from the VHI in the weeks before the settlement. The hospital at that time was reported to be in a "dire" financial position.
In a statement this week, the order said that today the acute hospital offered services in every area of medicine and had two fully equipped operating theatres to cater for the increase in the demand for surgical services, both day care and in-patient.
The hospital announced the appointment of Mr Paraic Bergin as chief executive officer. Mr Bergin, a qualified accountant, was formerly the financial controller of Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, and joined St Francis Hospital as financial manager in 1997. He left to become financial director of Coen Holdings Ltd.