The DAMC (Dublin Academic Medical Centre) was established in 2007, as Ireland first patient focused academic health system. Established in 2007, the DAMC initially focused on the integration of research and education activities across UCD, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital (MMUH) and St Vincent's Healthcare Group. It is now focused on strengthening of the relationship between the combined entity with the University.

DAMC Mission

Building on the strong legacy of our founding institutions, the DAMC will improve the health of the communities we serve and of the general population, by purposefully linking world class patient care, teaching and research.  

We will consistently pursue excellence and innovation in the:

  • Delivery of the best quality outcomes for our patients,
  • Education and training of health professionals,
  • Discovery, dissemination and utilisation of new knowledge, therapies and techniques.

Through our wider healthcare relationships, we aim to play a leadership role in the promotion of health and wellness within our society. 

DAMC Vision

Operating at the nexus of patient care, education and research, the DAMC will be the leading provider of patient-centred healthcare services in Ireland, and one of the top ten in Europe.It will be recognised as the public and private healthcare provider of choice, the preferred employer in the sector, the leading educator of healthcare professionals at undergraduate, graduate and in continuing professional development. It will also build a distinctive competence and international reputation as an innovator in its chosen areas of research.

DAMC Values

The DAMC will continue espouse the values of
  • Human Dignity
  • Compassion
  • Justice
  • Quality
  • Accountability
  • Equity
  • Advocacy
  • Academic freedom              
Qualities that are central to the ethos of our founding institutions.

Value Proposition

The DAMC will be a platform to attract the best and brightest, to deliver the best patient outcomes, to deliver internationally significant translational research and to provide the best education possible to future generations of healthcare professionals.

To achieve its vision and live its mission, the DAMC will pursue the following key strategic objectives:

  1. Delivering excellence in patient care – to be the leading provider in Ireland of healthcare services, including the provision of highly complex specialty and sub-specialties, in a safe, high quality, clinical outcome driven environment.
  2. Being the healthcare provider of choice – to be focused on delivering the best possible access and experience for our patients, across all aspects of their interaction with the DAMC
  3. Providing world-class education – to be the number one provider of undergraduate and postgraduate medical education in Ireland, attracting and retaining the best and brightest faculty and students, educating and preparing healthcare professionals to excel in their chosen specialisms and careers
  4. Enabling internationally significant bio-medical research -  to be recognised nationally and internationally as a leader in undertaking innovative biomedical and translational research, delivering value enhancing outcomes for healthcare in Ireland and overseas
  5. Being a key link in the promotion of health and wellness – to be integral, through our wider healthcare relationships, to the promotion of health and wellness for our defined population, with a particular focus on the seamless management of chronic disease within our community
  6. Being the employer of choice for healthcare staff in Ireland – to be recognised as recruiting and retaining the very best talent, providing a positive and supportive working environment and building strategic capability consistent with being a leading academic medical centre
  7. Achieving a sustainable financial position – to be considered as the national benchmark in efficient hospital management, consistent with the effective stewardship of the resources at our disposal
  8. Contributing to healthcare reform – to be influential and proactive in the formation and execution of health policy through strong linkages with policy makers and agencies. 

Our Commitment to Public

The DAMC aims to:

  • Be a healthcare provider of choice by delivering the highest levels of patient satisfaction and cost-effective care.
  • Be nationally recognized for having the highest levels of patient safety
  • Be nationally recognized as the medical centre that best prepares healthcare professionals to deliver world class care.
  • Be nationally recognized for consistently integrating best practices and assimilating the most current medical knowledge into the care we provide.
  • Be nationally recognized as leaders in selected areas of biomedical and translational research and internationally recognized in at least one area.
  • Make unique and valuable contributions to the understanding of disease and the promotion of health through research in fundamental biomedical, clinical and public health sciences.
  • Develop strong linkages with State policy makers and agencies to become a critical resource in the formation of health policy and in the delivery of modern healthcare in Ireland. 

The creation of Dublin Academic Medical Centre combines existing strengths, experience and expertise creating a critical mass of healthcare professionals that can better deliver the full range of clinical services required by our patients.  In time, the DAMC will enable the coordinated deployment of resources and the development of shared services across the three institutions to improve access and quality of patient care in Ireland. 

Through Ireland’s two major acute hospitals and their associated general and specialist hospitals, the combined Dublin Academic Medical Centre entity:

  • Serves the healthcare needs of approximately 1 million people across East Leinster.
  • Provides two major Accident & Emergency centres in Dublin and delivers two modern acute medicine units.
  • Operates with over 350 consultant medical staff and a similar number of non-consultant hospital doctors with over 200 doctors progressing through general medical and higher specialist training programmes.
  • Cares for over 300,000 out-patient ambulatory and 100,000 in-patient acute care cases per annum in all major specialties with over 1,400 in-patient hospital beds. 
  • Provides national referral specialists in arthritis, cardiothoracic surgery (including transplantation), lung disease (including cystic fibrosis), liver disease (including transplantation), spinal injuries and cancer care.
  • Provides two regional centres for the National Breast Screening Programme as part of the national cancer control strategy.
  • Offers national and regional centres of excellence in breast, lung, gynaecological, pancreatic, prostate and colorectal cancer surgery and oncology within the national cancer control programme.
  • Has pre-eminent clinical centres for infectious diseases (including Hepatitis C), diabetes and endocrinology.
  • Delivers regional centres for ophthalmology, dermatology and oncology.
  • Has Ireland’s largest clinical research centre, operating at both hospital sites under a single governance structure and is an active participant in both the Dublin Centre for Clinical Research and Molecular Medicine Ireland initiatives.
  • Offers focal points for the coordination of North and South Dublin healthcare services delivered in the community and at smaller specialist clinical facilities through referral by an extensive network of general practitioners.

Academic Leadership

Through its association with University College Dublin, Ireland’s largest and most research-intensive University, the DAMC

  • Has access to a cohort of 165 academic staff and over 250 principal investigators and funded researchers within the UCD School of Medicine & Medical Science.
  • Has a teaching partner that provides the largest undergraduate training in medicine, nursing, radiography and physiotherapy and an extensive portfolio of graduate education programmes that support continuous professional development.
  • Has a research partner with 75 principal investigators leading investigations into disease aetiology, pathogenesis and therapy strategies with external peer-reviewed research grants under management worth over €90 million and an annual research income of approximately €10 million.
  • Benefits from the University’s strategic focus on Health and Healthcare Delivery, one of four overarching strategic priorities which guide academic programme activity, recruitment and investment.
  • Can leverage world class research facilities and expertise within:
    • UCD Conway Institute, a leading multidisciplinary biomolecular and biomedical research centre
    •  UCD Geary Institute, Ireland’s premier centre for socio-economic and public policy research
    • UCD Diabetes Research Centre, an integrated research programme combining molecular medicine and epidemiological investigations on complications arising from diabetes and obesity.
    • UCD Institute for Food and Health, an EU-funded multi-disciplinary research centre focused on food production, safety and nutrition health. 
    • UCD Centre for Research in Infectious Disease, the National Virus Reference Laboratory and the UCD Infection Biology research programme. 
    • UCD Charles Institute for Dermatology, a major new centre for research and training. 
    • Irish Drug Delivery Network, a Science Foundation Ireland-funded strategic research cluster involving UCD, TCD, RCSI and UCC.

Progress to Date

The academic medical centre project was initiated in July 2007 with the signing of a tripartite memorandum of understanding between the founding institutions. 

A DAMC Board of Directors was established under the Chairmanship of Mr Thomas Lynch with representation from each of the three parent institutions.  The Board guides the strategic development of the new entity ensuring appropriate engagement of the three parent institutions. 

The DAMC became operational in September 2007 with the immediate goals of integrating research & education activities across the three institutions and creating joint clinical departments across both hospital sites.  In October 2007, Professor William Powderly (Consultant in Infectious Disease, Dean of Medicine & Head of the UCD School of Medicine & Medical Science) was appointed as Chief Academic Officer. 

In October 2008, two consultant staff members, Professor Douglas Veale (Director of Translational Research) and Dr Dermot Power (Director of Postgraduate Education) were appointed to advance further integration of the three institutions.  The two UCD Clinical Research Centres at each hospital were also integrated under a single governance structure and a CRC Research Advisory Committee was established to guide study activity. 

In December 2011, the UCD School of Medicine & Medical Science appointed Dr Paddy Mallon (Consultant in Infectious Diseases at MMUH and UCD Principal Investigator) as Associate Dean for Research and Innovation and Prof Patrick Murray (Consultant in Clinical Pharmacology at MMUH and UCD Principal Investigator) as Associate Dean for International Studies.

A joint DAMC Medical Executive was created, chaired by Professor Powderly and comprising representatives from the two local hospital Medical Executives and from the academic executive management committee.  The DAMC Medical Executive Committee is responsible for clinical policy development, healthcare strategies and all new hospital consultant appointments which are advanced in a cross-institutional basis exploiting economies of scale and establishing a critical mass to allow the development of subspecialty expertise.

Phase I  - Pre-Integration

A formal 3 month pre-integration programme of activities (Phase I) was undertaken engaging key stakeholders across all three institutions.  This phase focused on the corporate governance, business planning and financial due diligence necessary to merge two of Ireland’s largest healthcare groups.  The persuasive case for the establishment of Ireland’s first academic health system has been accepted by the Boards of both hospitals, by the UCD Governing Authority and important briefings have been made to key stakeholder groups (HSE, Department of Health & Children, Minister for Health & Children, etc).  

Phase II - Integration

Following the conclusion of Phase I, the Boards of the two hospitals authorised the initiation of Phase II, the integration of clinical and corporate services across both hospitals and the development of a closer affiliation with UCD.  This programme of activities initiated in July 2012.

St Vincent’s University Hospital, D4

Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, D1