An Athlone councillor says he has concerns for the future of St Vincent's nursing home in the town after another delay to the building of a new unit.
A new 50 bed unit at Clonbrusk has been in the pipeline for the past few years, and work had been due to begin on it early this year.
The delay this year is due to the fact that the first preferred bidder had pulled out of the project.
Members of the Regional Health Forum were told this week that the second preferred bidder has accepted the job but it's not expected that work can begin until autumn of next year.
Westmeath Council Chairman Frankie Keena says its good news the second bidder has accepted the deal, but he's still concerned that another bad HIQA report in the meantime could lead to serious problems.
