The HSE has said the planned elective hospital at Merlin Park in Galway remains on track for development amid concerns that there was backtracking on plans to build the new facility.
Fianna Fáil TD for Galway West John Connolly raised the issue in the Dáil yesterday and said he was "very concerned" that a smaller elective care centre attached to a surgical hub would be a downgrade on the original plan.
He said the loss of a 200-bed expansion would be a "significant change".
"The elective hospital was seen as something that could facilitate increased development at the University Hospital [Galway] site.
"The plan had always been, as far as I understood it, that elective, non-emergency, non-acute, outpatient facilities would all move to the Merlin park site, and that the University Hospital site would be for acute, high-tech procedures, cancer care, maternity, an accident and emergency.
"I'm really concerned about the progression of that plan," Mr Connolly said.
HSE documents were reported to have identified the need to "refine the scope and budget" of the planned elective care centres, leveraging existing infrastructure wherever possible and substantially reducing the overall cost.
Mr Connolly said the proposed new facilities on the campus were vital for decanting patients from an overcrowded University Hospital Galway, giving the city centre facility breathing space to upgrade its wards, cancer care centre, emergency department and ICU, surgical block and dated paediatric and maternity units as part of a 25-year master plan.
In a statement, the HSE apologised to Mr Connolly for the information provided to him, "as it did not provide an accurate picture of the development and we have corrected the record directly with him".
