University Hospital Galway 5.58

University Hospital Galway is the main acute hospital in Galway, Ireland.It is a tertiary referral centre for a range of specialities including Urology, Oncology, Cardiothoracic Surgery and Cardiology. Together with Merlin Park University Hospital the hospitals comprise the Galway University Hospitals . These are the main Heath Service hospitals in Western Ireland. GUH working with Roscommon hospital was seen as a pilot for the HSE "new hospital model" under Health Minister James Reilly, making it "master of its own destiny" according to then-CEO Bill Maher. That group was expanded so that Galway University Hospitals became part of the West-Northwest hospital group, now called Saolta.CEO Bill Maher was the subject of an internal audit revealing potential conflict of interest at the time of his appointment leading to the award of contracts without tendering worth approximately €338,000 to Northgate, an organisation Bill Maher held a consulting contract with at the same time. At the time he was also in receipt of top-up payments from St. Vincent's Healthcare Group, and a top-up allowance for working in Galway. He has since left the public health system.