The company that operates Cahercalla Community Hospital in Ennis plunged into the red last year to record losses of €895,091 from trading activities.

New accounts show that Cahercalla Community Hospital CLG recorded the €895,091 loss after revenues decreased by €663,000 or 12% from €5.65m to €4.99m.

In their report, the directors state that Cahercalla Community CLG “was massively impacted on many levels by the Covid-19 pandemic”.

They state that “the financial impact is clearly seen in the financial statements for 2021”.

The company made a loss of €895,091 from trading activities but pointed out that the loss was “somewhat mitigated by an insurance claim of €151,777”.

Occupancy rates were highlighted as the main driver of the loss.

The accounts – signed by company director and former TD, Dr Michael Harty – show that the loss last year followed a surplus of €184,940 in 2020.

The directors reveal that in 2021, occupancy rates had slumped to 80.5 residents due to the pandemic. They state that occupancy has since recovered and now stands at 108, which irepresents 96% occupancy.

The directors state that in February 2021, the hospital appointed Mowlam Healthcare to take over the clinical management of the nursing home. This led to a resolution of all issues raised by HIQA in various reports as well as a better focus on staffing levels and general cost management.

The directors state that Cahercalla and Mowlam have been very active in improving the occupancy from Covid levels back to the historic levels pre-Covid “and the board is confident that the loss in 2021 will not be repeated”.

The accounts show that last year the hospital spent €207,700 on agency staff costs compared to zero under that heading in 2020.

The spend on food reduced by €59,950 or 22.5pc from €266,245 to €206,295 while staff costs reduced from €4.03m to €3.63m as staff numbers reduced from 129 to 117. Income from hospital beds last year slumped from €4.93m to €4.24m.

The hospital last year paid out management fees of €342,709 compared to zero under that heading in 2020. The loss also takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €284,869.

At the end of last year, the hospital had total funds of €7.26m made up of €9.6m in capital reserves and funds off-set by €2.36m in accumulated losses. The hospital’s cash funds decreased from €444,798 to €108,185.

On the hospital’s future developments, the directors state that “the board of Cahercalla has ambitious plans to respond to the ever changing needs of our community in Clare by providing additional services which reflect the needs of our ageing population”.

They state that a dedicated Memory Care Centre is being developed to address the increasing need for specialist services for parents suffering from memory impairment.

The directors state that during the year, the company received a grant of €129,499 from Milford Care Centre to support the provision of three palliative care beds.

The directors state that the associated expenditure in respect of the three beds was €175,466 and the balance of the expenditure was covered by fundraising activities.

On the company’s going concern status, the directors state that the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future and continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the annual financial statements.

Auditors Curtin, O’Friel & Co state that the 2021 loss and accumulated losses along with other matters indicate the existence of a material uncertainty that casts significant doubt as to whether the company can continue as a going concern.