South Eastern Health Board appoints new Chairman

At the December meeting of the South Eastern Health Board (SEHB), Dr. Jack Gallagher was appointed as Chairman of the Board for 2002.

Dr. Gallagher came to the South East in 1969 to take up the position of Consultant Obstetrician/Gynaecologist at Waterford Maternity Hospital, Airmount. He retired from Waterford Regional Hospital in April of this year. Prior to working in Waterford, he had been Assistant Master at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin. He is a graduate of University College Dublin and specialised in Obstetrics/Gynaecology with Professor J.S. Scott at the Professorial Unit at the United Leeds Hospitals.

He said he was delighted to have been elected Chairman of the Board: “I am honoured and delighted to have been elected to the Chair at a time when the health services are on the verge of major transition, following the recent publication of the National Health Strategy. My aim would be for the Board to get the maximum benefits from the Strategy and to ensure that these benefits are shared out on an equal basis. It is very important to continue to see that each general hospital gets its fair share of funding. In addition, it is my hope that the regional hospital will finally get the full recognition from central sources for the important role it is playing.”

A member of the South Eastern Health Board almost continuously since 1977, Dr Gallagher has seen tremendous changes in the services in the region during his time here: “The changes in the delivery of health services in this region over the past 30 years are unimaginable,” he said. “The rate of growth has been phenomenal and the South Eastern Health Board has worked very hard to provide high standard facilities in all its areas.”

The Chief Executive of the SEHB, John Cooney, said: “It is a great pleasure to welcome Dr. Jack Gallagher as our new Chairman. He has been a valued member of the Board since the 1970s. I know he will make a major contribution to the work of the South Eastern Health Board. I would like to extend my thanks and best wishes to our outgoing Chairman, Alderman Hilary Quinlan.  He has been an exemplary role model, giving his time and energy whenever he was called upon.  I wish him well for his future and I welcome him back to the Board as a member.”