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TODAY saw residents move into Deer Lodge Mental Health facility on St Margaret's Road. The opening of the state-of-the-art centre is to be celebrated by the entire community, said the head of Mental Health Services at Cork Kerry Community Healthcare Sinead Glennon.

Ms Glennon described today as “a very significant day for mental health services in Kerry”. “All of Kerry can be very proud of this fantastic €13 million facility, and of the very high level of care which will be provided there,” she said.

In particular, this is an important day for the people who have now moved out of the outdated and “entirely unsuitable” O’Connor Unit, Ms Glennon added. “Thanks to the investment in Deer Lodge, we can now offer improved services and therapeutic intervention in rehabilitative and older persons’ mental health,” she said.

The management of Cork Kerry Community Healthcare paid tribute to the contribution and commitment of all staff involved in the project, from the design stage to completion. “This new facility will transform the lives of the many residents who will use the 40-bed facility in the years ahead,” said Ms Glennon. “Many of the residents and staff at Deer Lodge put a lot of work into the planning process around this opening. I’d like to thank them for their hard work and dedication.”

The mental health recovery unit for adults and older people has been built to a very high standard, and will provide a much-improved environment for the residents, their families and the staff working with them, according to the HSE.

The building is in four “households”, all connected through a central module that features a communal area, therapy areas, entrance, foyer, prayer room and other facilities including a hair salon. Each household has access to an internal landscaped garden area, and each resident has their own bedroom with en-suite facilities. “Care at Deer Lodge will be provided with the aim of ensuring that residents have maximum involvement in their own recovery process and can move towards more independent living,” stated the HSE. “A community based recovery team will work with Deer Lodge residents as part of the individual care planning process.”

The HSE noted that this facility will provide “the footprint” on which future service delivery is shaped and enable the delivery of a safe, effective, quality service in a therapeutic environment for both staff and service users. “The opening of Deer Lodge means that there is an overall increase of eight beds in Mental Health Services in Kerry and those eight beds come with a corresponding increase in staff numbers of 28.5,” stated the HSE.

“The staffing level and model has been endorsed by the Labour Relations Court and is in place in a similar facility in Clonmel. Additional funding of €1.15 million has been allocated for staffing to ensure the safe transfer of residents.”

 
Above: Deer Lodge staff members Juliette Brosnan, Declan Cronin, Michael O'Leary, David O'Riordan, Mary Lyons, Adrian Morrissey, Anne O'Connor, Aidan Murphy, Cathy O'Sullivan, Mary O'Mahony, Dr Darra Phelan, Louise Fitzgerald, Gerardine Lyne, Ann Mccarthy, Anne Maria Culloty, Noreen O'Sullivan, Christine Carroll, Sheila McCasrthy and Eric Crowe pictured ready to welcome residents to the €13 million Deer Lodge Mental Health facility on St Margaret's Road, Killarney, on Tuesday. PICTURE: DON MACMONAGLE