Tag Archives: University of Limerick

A €10.5m European project that aims to transform both environmental and human health is to be led by University of Limerick. Details of the Go Green Routes project, which has almost 40 different stakeholders, were announced at a virtual launch hosted by UL today, Monday. The four-year project, which applies visionary and integrated solutions to improve health in cities, will commence in September, coordinated by the Health Research Institute at UL. The overall objective is to position European cities as world ambassadors of urban sustainability. It will take Covid-19 into consideration and will evaluate the impact of reduced air pollution during lockdown and its aftermath, as well as the impact on mental health of urban citizens and their views on re-greening their cities. “Evidence is emerging that people flocked to green spaces during lockdown for mental health, physical activity and connectivity with their communities,” said Dr Tadhg MacIntyre, a lecturer in psychology at UL and coordinator of the Go Green …

The first ever woman president of an Irish university has been appointed at University of Limerick. Professor Kerstin Mey, the current Vice President Academic Affairs and Student Engagement at UL, will replace outgoing president Dr Des Fitzgerald, who will leave his position on September 1, on an interim basis. The Interim President will serve as Chief Officer of the University until the appointment of a new President through an open international recruitment process, which is expected to take up to 18 months once commenced. The UL Governing Authority ratified the appointment of Professor Mey following a special meeting last Thursday. Chancellor of UL’s Governing Authority, Mary Harney said Interim President Mey would be a “great appointee and one in whom we have every faith in to lead the University at a challenging time. She has already demonstrated her capacity for leadership in her role as Vice President. “There has long been a significant gender imbalance at the senior leadership level …

UP to 25 patients will be brought to a new Intermediate Care Facility (ICF) in the University of Limerick (UL) Sports Arena in its first week of operation thanks to a unique collaboration between UL and the UL Hospitals’ Group. Constructed at a cost of €1 million, all the equipment for the new field hospital in UL was provided by the HSE and all of its contains including the floor are reusable elsewhere. The ICF is a fully staffed and fully equipped Model One hospital facility that will provide rehabilation care for non-Covid patients who are discharged from acute public hospitals in the region. The 68-bed facility, with capacity to scale up to 84 beds, is fitted out with a typical ward support accommodation such as clean and dirty utilities, pharmacy, pantry, staff change, clinical treatment areas, two recreation areas, and four enclosed rooms. It is expected that up to 50 patients will be treated at peak demand with capacity …

THE provision of a new field hospital in the University of Limerick has been described as “amazing” by a local social worker. Medical staff from Clare and the Mid-West will pool their expertise to operate the new intermediate care facility. Joanne Hayes Inch outside Ennis is a medical social worker who will be working in UL as part of a multidisciplinary team with occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists. She will play a key role in the safe discharge process of a patient to a step down facility or their own home. Having met the patient, she will discuss their admission, experience in the facility and establish if they have any additional medical needs that need to be addressed when they are discharged at home. She will discuss the patient’s needs with their family and organise community supports, if they are deemed necessary. For the last four years, she has worked in the ED, rehabilitation of stroke patients …

Jessica Quinn A REFUND of accommodation fees for University of Limerick students has been recommended by the university’s governing authority. This is welcome news for students, many from Clare, who had been forced to give up their campus accommodation after the Covid-19 crisis broke. A spokesperson for the University of Limerick has confirmed, “The University of Limerick Governing Authority has today (Tuesday) given a recommendation that UL subsidiary Plassey Campus Centre Ltd (PCC), which manages the student residences on campus, return rental income to the students who left their accommodation on foot of the government’s decision to close the university campus in March.” UL’s Governing Authority held a Special Meeting on Tuesday during which the refund of student rents was discussed. Plassey Campus Centre Ltd (PCC) is the licensor and a separate legal entity to the University, with the issue a matter for decision by PCC and not the Governing Authority. “Nonetheless, as PCC sought the views of Governing Authority …

STUDENTS of the region’s main university have been involved in contact tracing in the fight against COVID-19 saying “the lists are long” but they are hoping to “make a difference”. University of Limerick, in partnership with the HSE, has set up the UL Virtual Hub with over 50 senior health sciences students trained to engage in contact tracing. The students, from medicine, allied health and nursing, are making calls to inform people that they have tested positive, as well as providing health advice. UL staff are managing the virtual contact tracing hub and are providing technical support and advice. A further 270 staff and students have signed up to volunteer in due course. 70 staff from Revenue, who were trained in UL, are responsible for follow-up calls to identify contacts of the person who has tested positive. “I am incredibly proud of both staff and students, who have put in huge amounts of work in relation to training and setting …

  Plans are well underway for the development of a large Intermediate Care Facility (ICF) on the floor of the main gymnasium in the University of Limerick’s Sports Arena. It is expected that this temporary facility will be kitted out to accommodate between 120 and 164 patients, depending on staffing, on the basis of a Health Service Executive template in line with a similar one planned for City West in Dublin. The UL Hospitals’ Group estimates it will cost approximately €560,000 for design and build, including mechanical and electrical works, which does not include equipping and staffing costs. This is a joint initiative between the University of Limerick and UL Hospitals’ Group, who are working together to ensure that work will get underway with a week. Once work gets underway it is envisaged that this new facility will be built in four weeks. The HSE has issued an open invitation for all qualified health professionals to make themselves available as …

A collaboration between University of Limerick and UL Hospitals Group has seen the design and capacity created to manufacture 100,000 face visors for HSE front-line staff. The Rapid Innovation Unit at UL, an SFI Confirm Centre funded 3D printing activity that works in collaboration with University Hospital Limerick, mobilised a team to innovate immediate solutions in response to the COVID 19 crisis. The unit has previous experience in rapid design and 3D printing of medical devices in response to clinical requests. Following a request from Professor Paul Burke, Chief Academic Officer at UL Hospitals Group and Vice Dean of Health Sciences at UL, academics and clinicians at the Rapid Innovation Unit at UL worked to design and manufacture novel solutions where doctors had identified potential shortages of equipment should COVID-19 cases surge. In less than two weeks, the team designed solutions to three critical clinical challenges facing clinicians due to the pandemic. These include capacity to manufacture 100,000 face visors …