Local election candidate for Milford, Maria Doherty has called for the upgrading of Ramelton Community Hospital.
The Sinn Féin candidate has demanded additional beds and nurses for the facility in order to alleviate pressure on Letterkenny University Hospital.
Ms Doherty said: “The hospital is a wonderful facility, with wonderful staff and close to the heart of all the communities in the area.
“The crisis across our health service has been created by years of cutbacks and underinvestment by the current and previous governments.
“It was apparent a few years ago that the government intended to close down Ramelton Community Hospital and to relocate the beds and nurses there to a new privately built hospital in Letterkenny. The government backed down due to the hard work and efforts of local campaigners and committed to further investment and two more beds.”
The Carrigart native is calling for a review of funding allocations to secure the future of Donegal’s community hospitals.
Ms Doherty said: “Over the last 15 years one in four beds and nurses have been lost from community hospitals across Donegal. This feeds into the crises at Letterkenny University hospital where huge numbers of our people have faced long delays to get the care that they need at our major county hospital when they present at the emergency department. So it is important to elevate this that our community hospital in Ramelton and across Donegal are upgraded and properly funded. “
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