CHI New Children's Hospital Visit
UCD Health Affairs recently took a tour of the new children’s hospital as part of the Chief Academic Officer Group. The tour was organised by Prof Owen Smith and hosted by Eilish Hardiman, CEO of Children’s Health Ireland. All seven CAOs were in attendance along with the group support team.
Everyone donned all the PPE required to visit the site while construction continues on the new hospital. The scale and complexity of the project were immediately obvious, and everyone was very impressed with what they saw on the day.
One key area of interest was the teaching and education spaces which were vast and impressive. The Education Centre will be located on the third floor and will include a library overlooking the atrium with breakout spaces for students and staff, there will also be two lecture halls. A large open space has been provided for educational administration across the universities that will operate on-site.
With an emphasis being placed on the importance of simulation facilities both on university and hospital campuses there was a huge level of interest in visiting the facilities the new hospital will provide. In particular, the team was impressed with the specifications of the simulation operating theatres that will be available to future students.
Other impressive elements of the new building include a large atrium contributing to a great sense of space and light and a wonderful, sheltered roof garden which will provide a place of solace for patients and parents.
Overall, it was clear that these new facilities will be a huge benefit to paediatric health sciences teaching, learning, and innovation in Ireland.