'It feels like a warm blanket': A home-from-home for kidney patients in Cork

A NEW “home-from-home” providing comfortable and supportive day facilities and overnight accommodation free of charge for kidney patients and their families has been officially opened in Cork.

The Irish Kidney Association (IKA) Munster Kidney Support Centre in Bishopstown was officially opened by Ireland’s EU Commission nominee Michael McGrath on Saturday.

Located at the end of a cul-de-sac on Wilton Ave, the new facility is within a three-minute walk of Cork University Hospital (CUH).

The centre features six ensuite bedrooms — including two accessible bedrooms — a drop-in recreational hub, living area, two quiet rooms, and a large landscaped garden where patients can seek downtime away from a clinical hospital environment.

It also includes six off-street car- parking spaces.

The services are free of charge for kidney patients and their accompanying family members and carers travelling from throughout Munster for hospital appointments and inpatient stays.

“CUH would be one of the bigger units, treating over 600 patients and people come [from] as far away as Kerry,” Irish Kidney Association CEO Carol Moore told The Echo.

“What this home-from-home does is it allows people to stay here overnight free of charge and also during the day people can drop in, have a cup of tea or coffee.

“We’ve been providing counselling services; some of the staff are actually kidney patients, so the whole idea is that when you come into the house it feels like a warm blanket thrown over you.”

First proposed in 2014, and purchased in 2018, the redevelopment of two adjoining houses at numbers 11 and 12 Wilton Ave began with the turning of the first sod on August 15, 2022.

“The IKA members themselves did a huge amount of fundraising; the public themselves helped us,” said Ms Moore.

“We spent nearly €1.5m on it —buying the two houses and then developing them to the standard that you see today.”

National honorary chairman of the Irish Kidney Association, Eddie Flood, himself a kidney patient, said the dedication of IKA volunteers and staff in developing the Munster Kidney Support Centre “shows the strength of the community to create a place of support for all with kidney disease”.

“The centre stands as a testament to the power of community spirit, volunteerism, and determination,” he said. “It is a pipe dream turned into reality, built entirely from bequests, donations, and fundraising from IKA members and the public.”

Speaking at the launch event, former minister for finance Michael McGrath commended the work of the IKA.

“This is a really fantastic example of a state-of-the-art service being provided to kidney patients and indeed their families as well,” he said. Mr McGrath spoke of his family’s personal connection to kidney disease, explaining that his late father suffered from it.

The event was also attended by Green Party councillor Dan Boyle, Lord Mayor of Cork, among other political representatives, IKA board members, transplant recipients, living donors, and others.