00:00The country's second largest hospital provider placed into receivership after lenders withdrew
00:09support for the debt laden company which employs about 19,000 full-time staff.
00:16Talks now underway to find new owners for its 37 hospitals including the 146 bed Hobart
00:22Private Hospital.
00:23In any of our facilities it is business as usual, there will be no hospital closures,
00:28there will be no redundancies.
00:29I want to be clear that I expect to see an orderly sale process eventuate from this decision
00:35to a new owner with no impact on patients and no impact on hard working staff.
00:41The decision making staff nervous.
00:43They're concerned about their future and their jobs but they're also concerned about the patients
00:48that they help each and every day and what will happen to them.
00:51Healthscope closed the St Helens Private Hospital in Hobart in 2023 and is set to end maternity
00:57services at the private in August.
01:00Health unions warning an already fragile public health service can't afford any more bed closures.
01:06I guess at the moment it's unknown what will happen with those 150 beds but if they do
01:10close it will just mean further gridlock at the Royal Hobart Hospital.
01:14The health system is not equipped at all to cope with any further bed closures.
01:17We need additional beds both in the private and public sector.
01:21We could not afford to lose this facility and the government cannot let this happen.
01:24Located at the site of the former Queen Alexandra Maternity Hospital the private has been leased
01:29out since 1998 but the building itself is still owned by the state government.
01:35Surely we need to be having a conversation about buying it back, rolling it back into the
01:39Royal, dramatically expanding the capacity of the Royal.
01:42Our government will be focused on providing, making sure those services are available to Tasmanians
01:49and will be working closely with the company.
01:51The search to find new owners for HealthScope already well underway.
01:55We've got ten non-binding indicative offers and some of those are for the whole.
02:02Patients and health staff all around the country facing a nervous wait.
02:06Patients and health staff all around the country facing itself.
02:13Down to the world and wollen in order to engage in emergency.
02:22Patients and health staff are solely equipped with the establishment of guardian and health affairs.
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