Beacon outreach centre opens in Mullingar

Patients in Westmeath will benefit from easier access to specialists in cardiology, orthopaedics, ear, nose and throat (ENT) and general, laparascopic and gastrointestinal surgery, at the newly opened UPMC satellite centre, UPMC Beacon Mullingar.The outreach clinic was officially opened on Tuesday, May 8.Located on Oliver Plunkett Street, over Mullingar Pharmacy, the clinic will provide GPs and patients with consultation in each of the above disciplines.Any resulting procedures will take place at UPMC Beacon Hospital, Sandyford, Dublin.Joel Yuhas, CEO of UPMC Beacon Hospital, said: "We see a great number of patients travelling to our hospital in Dublin from Mullingar and surrounding areas to meet with our consultants for appointments that could easily take place locally. This is UPMC's fourth outreach clinic outside Dublin, as we want to see and treat patients as close to their homes as possible."We decided we would open a satellite clinic in Mullingar to reduce the amount of travel patients, who at times are very unwell, need to take. Major procedures will still take place at our Dublin hospital but providing pre- and post-surgery care locally will, we believe, make a big difference to patients."Resident consultants at UPMC Beacon Mullingar include Turlough O'Donnell, Aaron Peace, Kieran O'Driscoll, John Lunn, Paul Murphy, Ibrahim Elsherif, Mashood Ahmed and Adnan Hafeez.The consultants will provide specialist diagnosis and treatment in their respective areas including joint replacement, coronary intervention, rhinology and rhinoplasty, paediatric/general ENT, gastrointestinal surgery and more.UPMC Beacon Mullingar is based on Oliver Plunkett Street, over Mullingar Pharmacy in the centre of Mullingar Town and can be contacted via 044 933 0449.