Beacon Hospital has today strengthened its position as one of the country’s leading sports medicine clinics, unveiling its new Sports Lab.
Launched by legendary Republic of Ireland football manager Mick McCarthy and headed up by Dr Alan Byrne, the Republic of Ireland’s Senior International Team Physician and Consultant in Sports and Exercise Medicine at Beacon Hospital, the first and only Sports Lab in South Dublin houses the most advanced sports assessment equipment in Ireland.
Offering athletes and amateur exercise enthusiasts injury treatment and performance management, the new Sports Lab and Beacon Hospital’s growing sports medicine offering have been a response to the growing trend of people in Ireland exercising more.
The new Sports Lab offers personalised training programmes for any level, from people looking to run their first 10k, to those training for an Ironman Triathlon, to professional athletes. The team includes Chris Simpson, an Exercise Physiologist and Ironman Certified Coach with expertise in coaching athletes at novice and international level. It is also connected to the full services of an acute hospital at Beacon Hospital.
The investment in the new Sports Lab was part of a broader growth strategy at Beacon Hospital to enhance services, equipment and facilities. Recently there has also been expansions to the hospitals orthopaedic and cardiology departments.
Speaking about the launch, Mick McCarthy said:
“It is a pleasure to help launch the Sports Lab facility at Beacon Hospital. The facilities now available to athletes here are state of the art and great credit is due to all the team at the Sports Lab for their innovation and investment. Sports science has progressed so much from my days as a player when every injury was treated with hot packs or ice packs! I wish everyone involved with the Sports Lab the very best of luck with the project.”
Dr Alan Byrne, Consultant in Sports and Exercise Medicine at Beacon Hospital said:
“We have been providing leading medical care for athletes and sports enthusiasts through our orthopaedics, physio, radiology and sports medicine departments for a number of years. But we’re proud to bring our offering to the next level, with the launch of our new Sports Lab. The new equipment like the V02 max machine, the bod pod and Isokinetic Testing, along with experts in the hospital, offer tailored assessments and programmes to meet specific needs.”
Michael Cullen, CEO of Beacon Hospital said:
“This is an exciting development for the hospital. The Sports Lab facilities, married with our orthopaedic and physiotherapy departments, truly allows our patients to access the very best equipment and experts, whether they are training for a big race or game or being treated for an injury. It follows significant investment over the past two years in the hospital as part of our broader growth plans.”