There have been renewed calls for the state government to abandon plans for a not-for-profit partner for the new Maitland Hospital.
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The government is still working through applications from non-profits that have put their hands up to build and run the proposed facility at Metford – expected to cost more than $450 million.
But Labor MP Jenny Aitchison and members of various health workers’ unions protested outside the existing Maitland Hospital on Tuesday, four days after the government scrapped plans for a public-private partnership (PPP) at Shellharbour Hospital, on the south coast.
The Shellharbour decision means the government has overturned plans for a PPP at four out of five hospitals that were earmarked for private sector involvement last year.
The new Maitland Hospital is the only one of the five facilities on the list that will have not-for-profit sector involvement, rather than being a government-run facility.
“It is time that [Health Minister] Brad Hazzard finished the job and announced that the [new Maitland] Hospital would be a public-owned and operated one,” Ms Aitchison said.
“He dropped Shellharbour Hospital because the community forced him into it.
“The pressure will now increase in the Maitland community for the Berejiklian government to drop its privatisation plans for the [new Maitland] Hospital.
“There is already a private hospital in Maitland and the new … hospital will replace the existing Maitland Hospital, leaving the community without a fully public hospital if the PPP proceeds.”
A NSW Health Infrastructure spokesperson said the shortlist of non-profit organisations would be finalised by late November. Prominent healthcare providers Calvary Care, which runs the Calvary Mater in Newcastle, and St Vincent’s Health Australia, would not comment on whether they had lodged an expression of interest to build and run the hospital.
While the government has repeatedly insisted the Maitland facility would provide healthcare to public patients, Labor and the unions are concerned over what a non-profit sector operator would mean for staffing levels and conditions, patient care, availability of services, accountability and doctor training.
Mr Hazzard’s office was approached for comment.
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