Wife scared for husband as Cork dementia unit to close before Christmas 

A Cork woman has said she is scared for her husband amid the closure of the dementia unit which is his home.

A HSE South West spokesperson confirmed earlier this month that Unit 1 in St Stephen’s Hospital in Glanmire was closing, and that the HSE was working with residents and families to find alternative placements.

Unit 1 is set to be used as accommodation for people requiring residential mental health treatment, like the other units on site.

The spokesperson said that more suitable buildings are available for residential care for people with dementia.

However, the wife of one man living in the unit says that none of the eight residents there has found another placement yet.

Gwen Lynch’s husband Paddy has been in St Stephen’s since June 2025. Before that, he spent over six months in Cork University Hospital as he was deemed too challenging for nursing homes.

“He was sent to one home and lasted two nights there before he was sent back to CUH,” said Gwen. “It was devastating, but we thought at last we had it sorted,” 

she added, pointing out he was later moved to St Stephen’s.

“It’s airy, there’s a fine space for him to walk, a garden he can go out into, the food is fantastic — Paddy loves it.”

She said her husband, who has been unwell for almost 10 years, has aphasia and frontal lobe problems which affect his communication, but in St Stephen’s he has been settled and content.

She praised the staff, saying that when their son was getting married, the family called up to see Paddy and the staff had decorated his room, served them non-alcoholic prosecco in flutes, and were waiting to clap and take photos as they arrived. Ms Lynch said that when she heard that the unit was closing down, she got such a shock that she had to leave the room.

“We were asked to come in for a meeting with the HSE and they offered to help us find somewhere else, but we don’t know where it is going to be,” she said.

“I’m very worried about how he’s going to react to a new place because it took him so long to settle, and the staff know him now. We’re afraid it will be a copy of what happened before, and he’ll wind up going from pillar to post.”

It is also just a half an hour away from her home.

Ms Lynch added that they were not consulted before the decision was made to close the unit, and they felt they were given very little notice. They were told that their loved ones would need to be out by Christmas.

She said that none of the eight residents had found a suitable alternative placement yet. “It’s all happening very soon, and I’m scared for my husband,” she told The Echo.

“It’s a terrible worry. Since that meeting with the HSE, we’ve heard nothing from them.”

A petition to save the unit has more than 1,200 signatures.