A private hospital operator's push to sell a facility back to the public will be probed as officials insist the under-fire firm cannot be rewarded with a windfall.
Healthscope proposed to sell the 488-bed Northern Beaches Hospital back to the NSW government and end a public-private healthcare partnership, the likes of which Premier Chris Minns has outlawed moving forward.
In September 2024, toddler Joe Massa collapsed and died after he and his parents waited three hours at the hospital's emergency department, which the operator has admitted was an "unacceptable failing".
Noting "uncertainty" around Healthscope's financial future, Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said the hospital's privatisation would be remembered as an "epic failure".
"I'm not prepared to sit and wait on this, I want to know the options now, so we are prepared for any negotiations, that's why I've directed the Taskforce to begin work immediately," he said.
"We are not going to allow private equity owners of the public hospital to make a windfall gain in a going-out-of-business sale."
Healthscope, which operates 38 hospitals across the country, signed the public-private partnership in 2014 and remains contracted to operate the Northern Beaches Hospital until 2038.
But financial turmoil at the Canadian-controlled firm has placed its future in doubt.
It pointed to Mr Minns' banning of public-private partnerships as a vote of no confidence when suggesting it would "hand" the hospital back to the state.
The government has assured services at the hospital will not be affected while the task force probes a potential sale.
NSW Health, Treasury and cabinet officials will sit on the task force.
On Monday, the peak doctors body called for great support for parents whose children die in hospital.
Along with Joe Massa, 17-year-old James Tsindos also died at a Healthscope hospital after an anaphylactic reaction in 2021.
Admitted to the Holmesglen Private Hospital in Melbourne, Mr Tsindos reportedly became "wheezy" before suffering a cardiac arrest, later dying after being transferred to another hospital.
Australian Medical Association Victoria president Jill Tomlinson said "wraparound services" including open disclosure should be offered to parents who have lost children.
"We see time and time again, parents explaining that they have had to search for answers and that they have not felt there has been open disclosure about what has occurred," Dr Tomlinson said.
Australian Associated Press
