St James’s Hospital, Trinity’s affiliated medical centre, is to house a second office of the Health Innovation Hub Ireland network, after Minister for Health Simon Harris opened a centre there yesterday.
The office in St James’s joins an existing hub in University College Cork, with another planned to open in Galway later this year. The hub was launched by Harris in 2016 and aims to establish Ireland as a leading location for start-ups and expanding healthcare companies.
The network operates in three areas: industry, healthcare and education. It aims to enable healthcare staff to assess possible solutions, like a service or product, to problems they have encountered in their work.
In a press statement, Harris said: “I am delighted to be launching the new Dublin office of the Health Innovation Hub Ireland here in St. James Hospital today.”
“The Hub is important because it aims to foster a unique partnership between the health service and the enterprise sector that will improve healthcare and outcomes for patients”, he said.
Minister of State for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development, John Halligan, who was also present at the launch, said: “I’m very pleased with the work the Hub is doing to provide innovative enterprises with the support they need to gain access to the Irish healthcare system.”
“This will afford them the opportunity to develop and test their new healthcare technologies, products, and services, which will in turn help to create Irish jobs and exports”, Halligan said.
Prof Seamas Donnelly, the Principal Investigator of Health Innovation Hub Ireland, said: “We are proud that HIHI is establishing Ireland as a leading location for start-ups and expanding healthcare companies, allowing easy interaction with hospitals and primary care centres.”
Donnelly said the network’s “overall aim is to embed ambassadors of innovation within the healthcare sector and build a national network of alumni who will foster an internal ecosystem of entrepreneurship within the HSE”.
At the launch in St James Hospital this week, the hub opened enrolment for its first Dublin-based workshop. Through a series of five workshops over 12 months, healthcare staff will learn how to experiment, think, and propose solutions to challenges they face in the healthcare system each day.
