New health facility in Ballina will be a regional hub

The significance of Ballina being selected as the location for a new HSE injury clinic was made crystal clear at the meeting of the Regional Health Forum on Tuesday last after a request for a similar facility for Sligo was turned down on the grounds that the Ballina unit will serve the entire HSE West/North West region.

The matter was raised by Sligo councillor Marie Casserly who had noted that the nearest injury clinic to Sligo is currently in Roscommon.  However, in a written reply, HSE officials said there are no plans to develop an injury clinic in Sligo, adding: “The injury unit planned for Ballina will be open to people from Sligo to attend.” 

Cllr Casserly told management it was disappointing a unit was not being set up in Sligo and suggested the service could be provided in the many primary health care centres in the region during evenings and weekends when they were not in use, but this proposal was rejected by the HSE's Area Health Manager John Fitzmaurice.

Mr Fitzmaurice said initiatives are being taken to meet demand such as extended working weeks and deferred care services and pointed out also that people can travel to attend the designated injury clinics, adding: “I appreciate Roscommon is not amenable for everybody, but it is an access point still, and Ballina likewise will provide a positional access point, which for a lot of people in south Sligo would be valuable.” 

Regional Executive Officer Tony Canavan noted that the injury clinic in Roscommon had 19,000 attendances throughout 2025, up 3,000 on the previous year. 

"We hope to open the one in Mayo by late Spring or early Summer and like all injury clinics, it is not restricted to any geography but to anyone who deems themselves that they want to travel there. We will keep an open mind but Mayo for sure is the location for the one for this region.” 

Mayo forum member Cllr Michael Loftus welcomed the news and paid tribute to Mayo Area Health Manager Mary Warde and Mayo University Hospital Manager Catherine Donohoe, following the announcement of over €10 million for medical services in Mayo, which he said would not have happened without their input and that of their teams. He also praised Minister Dara Calleary "for getting the unit in Mayo", adding: "Before, someone from Blacksod attending the unit in Roscommon had to travel three hours there and back so this will make an enormous difference to the community of Mayo and also Sligo.” 

Cllr Loftus also raised the matter of GPs having to move to a new building so that the injury clinic can get up and running at Ballina District Hospital, pointing out that the new building for the GPs is not ready yet. A further issue was that GPs do not know how patients will be referred to the new clinic or how the system will work.

It was confirmed that a meeting with the GPs and HSE management has been organised over the coming days to resolve the issues.

• Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.