Our Hospital Heroes need your help!

The Mater Foundation has joined with a group of Ireland’s leading Hospitals in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Cavan in the fight against Covid-19.

Together, we are asking you to support Our Hospital Heroes and to thank our brave frontline workers for the amazing job that they are doing for our country.

Right now, resources are needed to treat large numbers of Covid-19 patients in our hospitals. We must do so without affecting the continuing care for patients with other life-threatening conditions such as cancer and heart disease.

Our Government has already committed significant funding, but the fact remains that more will be needed. The severe impact on our courageous teams and on our resources will be felt not just now, but for many years to come.

Your donation will be greatly appreciated and will support our hospital heroes in the fight against Covid-19 across Ireland.

Read more about Our Hospital Heroes here.

Your donation will support frontline staff in the fight against Covid-19

The Mater Hospital is the national centre for lung health in Ireland. It is also the national centre for adult emergency respiratory life support (ECMO).

As one of the main hospitals in the country the Mater will be at the centre of the fight against Covid -19.

Over the coming weeks and months, our amazing staff will treat large numbers of Covid-19 patients while also still caring for other patients with life threatening conditions.

One of the greatest needs for staff in the weeks and months ahead is ensuring that they have the supports they need to help them to deal with the psychological and emotional trauma that they will have to deal with, their mental health.

Many of them will contract Covid-19 and become ill themselves as they are caring for patients.

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters the Mater Foundation has committed an emergency fund of €50,000 to help support the needs of all our amazing hospital staff during this crisis period, but more will be needed.

We have some of the best doctors, nurses and support staff in the in world working in our hospitals. As the Taoiseach said “not all heroes wear capes, some wear scrubs and gowns”.

They spend their lives putting others before themselves. But the reality is, if they fall down we all fall down.

Now is our time to help them.

Please donate whatever you can by clicking on the button below to support our Healthcare Heroes.

Thank you to all of our supporters who supported  the Mater Foundation’s volunteer stand Summer Hamper Raffle 2019.

We are delighted to announce the winner! Congratulations to Elaine Tate of Co. Monaghan, the recipient of a beautiful picnic hamper. Mater Foundation volunteer Maeve Troy, pictured below in the Whitty Wing in the Mater Hospital, drew the winning ticket.

We want to thank everybody who bought a raffle ticket. Your support is invaluable, with funds raised going directly to vital services for the patients of the Mater Hospital, helping us to achieve our goal of advancing care for every patient, every day.

Learn more about different ways to support the Mater Foundation here

We are delighted to announce our Summer Raffle winner. The draw took place today at the Heart House in the presence of Garda Tríona MacGuinness. Nursing staff from the Mater Hospital drew the winning names.

We’d like to extend a big congratulations to our raffle winners!

On behalf of everyone at The Mater, thank you so much for giving so generously of your time to buy or sell tickets to support our Summer Raffle 2019. Thanks to amazing supporters like you, enough funds have been raised to buy urgently needed stress testing equipment and heart monitors as well as continue to help fund lifesaving screening equipment.

Garda Tríona MacGuinness, Nurse Margaret Gallagher and Mater Foundation CEO Mary Moorhead

1^st prize Winner is Pat Donnelly from Co Dublin

2^nd Prize winner is Anne Murnagh from  Co Wexford

Sellers prize is Marian Hally from  Co Kilkenny

On average, the Mater’s Emergency Department sees four homeless people per day looking for help. Witness to the devastating effects on people’s health and well being, the Social Care Dept. in the Mater has recently had funding granted towards providing special care packs for homeless individuals.

With tracksuit bottoms, hoodies, t-shirts and a waterproof bag, the care packs meet the most basic needs of the people that present themselves to the Mater. The Irish Prison Service assisted with this initiative, offering to assemble the packs so that they were ready for distribution.

Governer of Arbour Hill, Liam Dowling, stated; “We all have a responsibility to play a part and contribute to the solution of the this serious problem. The Irish Prison Service are happy to support any initiative which will alleviate this crisis in our society. The offenders under my charge get great satisfaction from their participation in this initiative which makes a positive contribution to helping others.”

Aoife Ryan, Social Worker in the Mater added; “The offer of warm and dry clothing goes a long way towards treating our patients with respect, dignity and compassion. I have witnessed patient’s demeanor change almost instantly from that of defensiveness to one of genuine gratitude and appreciation. We have to continue to provide our most vulnerable patient group with support for their basic needs.”

Pictured below with the new homeless packs is Niall Dawson, Irish Prison Service, with Aoife Ryan and Amanda Casey from the Social Care Dept, Mater Hospital.

On Wednesday, 6th March, the Mater Hospital hosted a commemorative event marking the 200th HIPEC (Heated Intra-Peritoneal Chemotherapy) procedure given to cancer patients in Ireland. Alongside this, was the roll out of this significant service to women with advanced stage ovarian cancer.

Invited by Ireland East Hospital Group, international speakers included Professor Brendan Moran from the UK and Professor Willemien Van Driel from the National Cancer Institute.

Over 200 Cytoreductive Surgery (CRS) combined with HIPEC procedures have been carried out at the Mater Hospital since repatriation from the UK in 2013. This milestone marks a significant development in healthcare, and going forward, it will have an incredible impact on women’s cancer treatment.

Since September 2018, ten women with ovarian cancer have receive the treatment. The Mater Foundation is very proud to support this significant advance in healthcare, and going forward, we aspire to continue to support the Mater Hospital in bringing world class treatment to public patients.

A new album featuring some of Ireland’s most prolific country singers has recently launched, in memory of Ciarán Maree. The youngest of six children from Navan, Co Meath, Ciarán passed away in September 2007, just ten weeks after he was diagnosed with a very rare, progressive form of cancer. He was just 25 years-old.

Following the devastating loss of their son and brother, the Maree family set up the Ciarán Maree Cancer Research and Development Fund, in association with The Mater Foundation. Their aim was to raise money to improve cancer treatments and patient care in the Mater Hospital, where Ciarán was treated.

They have succeeded in raising a phenomenal amount, with almost €400,000 raised in over a decade. Featuring a host of renowned Irish artists, with the inclusion of an original track by Fergal Flaherty entitled ‘The Ballad of Ciaránín Óg’, the album reflects the Ciarán’s powerful and much loved legacy.

On the 19th of September 2018, St. Monica’s Ward Family Room was officially declared open in the Mater Misericordiae Hospital. Thanks to the phenomenal support of people like you, there are now 13 new Family Rooms across the different wards of the Mater Hospital.

The Family Room is a vital space for critically ill patients and their families, offering a place of calm and comfort, particularly at a palliative stage of illness. The rooms give families a peaceful place to talk, speak to their loved one’s doctors, or just catch a breath away from the bustle of a public hospital ward setting.

We had the pleasure of welcoming several guests to the opening, including The Papal Nuncio to Ireland Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo, Ms Olena Shaloput, Chairperson of the International Charity Bazaar, and Mr Declan McCourt.

A special thanks must be extended towards the International Charity Bazaar and Jaguar Land Rover Ireland – both made wonderfully generous donations which enabled the opening of this crucial resource.