DERRY JOURNAL Editorial: Honouring the memory of Dr Tom McGinley

Two years ago I interviewed Foyle Hospice nurse Hannah Healy upon her retirement. Hannah had been there from the start with Dr. Tom McGinley and was full of praise for the awe-inspiring lengths he went to over three decades earlier to get the facility up and running.
By Brendan McDaid
Published 2nd Feb 2021, 14:31 BST
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Back in the 1980s there was no Hospice building, just a GP with a passion, a vision and the drive to see if through. In 1985. Dr. McGinley bought an office in Crawford Square and Rosemary Peoples and Hannah were recruited as home care nurses to administer to people in their own homes. “Tom McGinley was out there doing walks and runs and he was fundraiser, Medical Director, the committee; he was everything and encouraging us to keep going with it. Tom McGinley worked day and night,” Hannah recalled.

While this small team relied on each other for support and administered to people in their homes, the fundraising drive continued to gather momentum and by 1991 the Hospice in Culmore was ready to open. “It belonged to the people of the north west, Derry, Limavady, Strabane and Donegal,” Hannah said, and she was right. The hospice was then, as it is now, part of who we are and what we are about.

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Visiting it, you cannot help but be struck by the special atmosphere and new visitors are often surprised by the warmth of everyone, the craic people have together, and of course the first-rate care.

1988: Dr Tom McGinley with Hannah Healy and Rosemary Peoples in the first broadcast about the Foyle Hospice for RTE.1988: Dr Tom McGinley with Hannah Healy and Rosemary Peoples in the first broadcast about the Foyle Hospice for RTE.
1988: Dr Tom McGinley with Hannah Healy and Rosemary Peoples in the first broadcast about the Foyle Hospice for RTE.

Over the years the hospice has expanded their services and their outreach, but it is a challenge to raise the considerable funding needed to keep it going, particularly so within the past year.

Over the past 30 years tens of thousands among us have ran, walked, danced, fasted, swam, cycled, dressed up and gone door-to-door to raise money for it - it wouldn’t exist without the efforts and support of local people - and the best way we can now honour the memory of Dr Tom McGinley is to keep that going; to do our part in whatever way we can to make sure it is there for all those who will need it in the future.

As Hannah said back in 2018... “there are very few families that haven’t needed it and needed it more than once.”

Anyone with a fundraising idea can phone 028 71359888 or email [email protected] or you can donate online at www.foylehospice.com/send-a-donation-online

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