I have pleasure on behalf of the Board in presenting\ud
Beaumont Hospital's first Report. Of necessity, it is an\ud
omnibus edition incorporating the activities of the Hospital\ud
for our first three years of operation. In addition to\ud
providing an account of our stewardship, financial and\ud
operational. for that period, the report contains some\ud
broad indicators dealing with our development plans for\ud
the immediate years ahead.\ud
At the risk of stating the obvious, I feel it may be useful\ud
at the outset to say what Beaumont Hospital is in the\ud
context of the provision of medical services to the Irish\ud
community. Beaumont Hospital is a major acute general\ud
hospital. It serves a densely populated catchment area of\ud
some 250,000 people in North-East Dublin. It also provides\ud
a regional and national service in certain specialties.\ud
In addition, Beaumont Hospital is a major teaching\ud
hospital with special links to the Royal College of\ud
Surgeons in Ireland.\ud
Beaumont Hospital was launched in November 1987 and\ud
around that time the then Minister for Health in a major\ud
statement in the Dail on the subject of acute hospital\ud
services referred to the need to have an acute hospital\ud
system which was geared to our ability to resource it and\ud
which was efficient and caring. The Minister further\ud
indicated that the system should be organised to provide\ud
a quality medical and teaching service in a business-like\ud
manner. The essence of those statements by the Minister\ud
encapsulates what Beaumont Hospital's mission should be\ud
and the work of the Board and management has been\ud
centred around the achievement of those aims and\ud
objectives. Niall G.Weldon. Chairman