A Renaissance man, with a wide range of interests stretching from music to drama, public speaking, athletics, academe, sports and travel, Kieran J. Hickey could have followed many careers.
But his love was for the public service and more especially the health service and he became one of the small band of men and women, who were instrumental in establishing the modern Irish health services.
Kieran, who died in February was President of the Health Management Institute of Ireland from 1995 to 1998.
A proud Kildare man. He was educated by the Christian Brothers in Naas, received a B.Comm from UCD and subsequently an MBA from UCG.
His first job was as a clerical officer at Kildare County Council. In 1971, he joined the Western Health Board and in 1977, moved to the Northwestern Health Board as Programme Manager. In 1986, he was appointed Programme Manager with the Eastern Health Board and in 1989 took over as CEO of the EHB, which at that time provided health services for one third of the population of the country.
Throughout his career, he was impatient to make progress and was at the forefront of innovations in healthcare and personal social services. Known to his irreverent staff as “KJ,” he was firmly on the side of those receiving health and personal social service. He would think little of driving hundreds of miles to sort out a problem.
He was instrumental in restoring Dr. Steevens Hospital, to become the Head Office of the Eastern Health Board, which up to then had departments scattered all over the city. Speaking at the official opening of the restored Dr. Steevens’ in July 1992, he said, “It is a building of outstanding architectural interest and we are proud to be in a position to protect it for future generations.”.
The main building is listed and is of immense architectural importance. It was designed by Thomas Burgh who also designed the library at Trinity College. The design is said to be based on that of the Royal Hospital at nearby Kilmainham.
The restoration received a prestigious award from the Commission of the European Communities as a pilot project in the scheme to conserve European Architectural Heritage.
Kieran was instrumental in bringing the world-famous Worth Library back to Dr. Steevens. He was Chair of the Worth Library Trustees from 1995- 2004 and served as a Trustee until his death.
Following his retirement from the post of CEO, he was called upon by the Minister of Health to lead the Office for Health Gain for another five years.
He had a lifelong passion for drama, acting in the Naas Moat Club and the Sligo Drama Circle, where he had lead roles in productions such as Fiddler on the Roof, A Man for All Seasons, and Antigone. Many of these plays reached the All-Ireland Amateur Drama Festival, a testament to his talent and dedication to the arts.
In 1955, he won the Leinster and All Ireland colleges mile competition and went on to represent Ireland in an international schools’ competition in Trier in Germany
He was a sports fanatic, whether it was boating in Galway and Sligo, following GAA or cheering on horse races. His capacity to recall the score of GAA games and the players who scored in matches from almost 50 years ago was nothing short of extraordinary. Hie followed golf tournaments, horse races and the Irish Rugby team. He would be regularly found to have three screens running at once with the golf on the TV, the GAA on his iPad and the racing from Leopardstown on his phone. There were few Premier league managers who escaped his “insightful strategic nuances” and armchair tactics.
He was honoured with the prestigious O’Moore Medal from the Healthcare Informatics Society in 2012 – the first senior health manager to receive the award.
He served on the Board of Management for several of Dublin’s major hospitals.
A committed Catholic, his religion sat lightly upon him. He participated in the Young Priests Society, and was a dedicated member of the Church Choir at Leixlip until his death.
When they were both 19, he met Anne who was to become his wife and the love of his life for almost 70 years. They loved to travel and visited every European capital, the USA, Korea, Istanbul, China, and the Caribbean. I never met Kieran when he did not speak of Anne, of her love and of their happiness together.
He is survived by Anne, by their ten children and their grandchildren. Ar dheis Dé to raibh a anam. M.B
