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A landmark programme to deliver 14 primary care centres across Ireland is set to get underway following a circa €140 million deal. Construction will start immediately, with the centres being delivered over a twenty-seven month programme.
New facilities will be built in Dublin, as well as at locations in Galway, Kildare, Limerick, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, Waterford, Tipperary and Wexford.
A first in [the Republic of] Ireland’s primary care market; the programme is being delivered by a consortium comprised of Prime, Balfour Beatty and InfraRed Capital Partners Limited (as the investment adviser to HICL Infrastructure Company Limited (HICL), the listed infrastructure fund).
News of financial close follows the announcement of the Consortium as preferred tenderer last May for the 25-year PPP (design, build, finance and maintain) contract. Since then the Consortium has worked closely with the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) to reach financial close.
The Consortium combines the considerable skills and resources of healthcare property company Prime, international infrastructure group Balfour Beatty, and InfraRed Capital Partners Limited, a leading global investment manager focused on infrastructure and real estate. Over the last five years Prime, Balfour Beatty and InfraRed have successfully raised over €3 billion of senior debt funding to support projects across the PPP infrastructure and primary care markets.
Based on the concept of ‘One project, fourteen communities’, each centre has been designed to meet local needs and make a positive difference to the community within which it is located, while the design process has also sought to focus on elements such as energy conservation, materials selection, operational needs and maintenance requirements, all aimed at delivering value for money for the HSE and NDFA.
As experienced providers in the PPP and primary care markets, Prime and Balfour Beatty have brought together a team of 500 professionals to deliver the project.
A key element of the project will be local procurement, with companies such as Balfour Beatty Ireland, JJ Rhatigan & Company and Aramark Irelandforming the backbone of the delivery team. Local subcontractors and suppliers will also feature strongly in each project.
In addition to GP services at each of the new primary care centres, some sites will include additional services such as dental services, physiotherapy, speech and language services, community nursing, community mental health services, child and adolescent mental health services, early intervention teams, and doctor on call services.
This is an ambitious programme and one that represents a significant investment in healthcare for Ireland, which will benefit patients across the country.
Will Bilbrough, Development Director at Prime plc, said: “It is exciting to have reached this latest milestone and I very much look forward to seeing the successful delivery of each centre that, when complete, will provide a new direction for primary care services in 14 communities across Ireland. I have been delighted with the commitment from the whole project team and when the centres open, I am certain that each building will be valued by both patients and the healthcare professionals who will work in them.”
Tzvetelina Bogoina, Balfour Beatty Bid Director, said: “Balfour Beatty is a trusted partner in the healthcare sector having delivered over £2billion worth of hospitals and care centres over the past decade. We look forward to handing over the primary care centres which will make a positive difference to local communities in terms of health outcomes as well as added social value outcomes in the creation of local employment and local supply chain opportunities and student placements and taster days throughout the construction phase.”
Tony Roper, Director at InfraRed Capital Partners Limited added: “HICL has successfully invested alongside Prime in a number of primary care developments over the last few years and is very pleased to have reached Financial Close on this project and to be able to have the opportunity to work alongside its Consortium partners and the HSE to deliver new vital improvements to the provision of primary care in Ireland.”