UPMC has acquired a second hospital in Ireland in partnership with an eye surgery center to create an ophthalmology services network in the country, the health system giant announced Wednesday.
UPMC acquired the 39-bed Clare General Hospital in County Kildare in partnership with the Institute of Eye Surgery, the biggest ophthalmology service in Ireland, with plans to create a national Ophthalmology Network of Excellence. Clare General, which is located about 20 miles west of Dublin, will be renamed UPMC Kildare Hospital.
“We look forward to helping patients access treatments in a timely way, while working closely with the public health system,” David Beirne, senior vice president of UPMC International and managing director of UPMC in Ireland, said in a prepared statement.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
UPMC opened it first cancer treatment center in Waterford, Ireland, in 2006 and rapidly expanded its footprint since then. UPMC Hillman Cancer Center recently opened in Cork in partnership with the Bon Secours Health System, while UPMC created a nationwide concussion treatment network and opened the UPMC Carlow Outreach Center. In 2018, UPMC acquired what is now called UPMC Whitfield Hospital, the biggest private hospital in the southeast part of the country.
In the Pittsburgh area, UPMC has been rapidly expanding eye care services with the recruitment of Jose-Alain Sahel in 2016. He chairs the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and is director of the UPMC Eye Center.
Dr. Sahel is a French ophthalmologist and scientist who will oversee operations at the nine-story UPMC Vision & Rehabilitation Tower, which is under construction next to UPMC Mercy hospital, Uptown.
Kris B. Mamula: kmamula@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1699
First Published: November 13, 2019, 1:08 p.m.
Updated: November 13, 2019, 1:11 p.m.
