Work has begun on the mental-health unit being built at Sligo University Hospital, which will serve Leitrim.
The €11-million euro facility will open in 2020 and replace the current unit at Ballytivnan in Sligo town.
Planning permission has been granted for the 25-bed admission unit on the site of Sligo University Hospital campus, which will also serve County Leitrim.
According to the minutes of a recent meeting of the Sligo/Leitrim area mental health management team, Teresa Dykes, the general manager for mental-health services in the area, sought €2.4 million to begin works on the new acute unit.
In a statement to Shannonside FM, the HSE confirms funding has been provided for the enabling works and these have now commenced.
These involve the provision of temporary alternative accommodation for services currently on the site of the new unit.
The HSE adds this will provide a vacant site for the main construction contract, which is due to be tendered in late 2017 and start on site early next year.
The 3,500-square-metre unit is expected to be completed in late 2019 and operational in early 2020.
The current unit at Ballytivnan nearby has been strongly criticised by the Mental Health Commission.
