Big banks hand private hospital giant a $100m lifeline
Two major banks will help keep Australia's second-largest hospital operator afloat as its struggles with crippling debt.
Commonwealth Bank announced on Monday it would provide $100 million to support Healthscope, which operates 37 hospitals in every Australian state and territory.
Westpac has agreed to continue to provide assistance to help receivers sell the business, offering some clarity to the provider's 18,000 employees.
Receivers have been appointed, led by McGrathNicol partner Keith Crawford, who said the focus was to engage "constructively with all key stakeholders to ensure uninterrupted operation of Healthscope hospitals".
He said the intention was to transition all hospitals to new ownership, with no plans for closures or redundancies.
Healthscope said while the parent entity had entered receivership, the operational business, which runs the hospitals, has not.
Every hospital would operate as normal, chief executive Tino La Spina said.
He revealed the additional funding would ensure a stable path to sale.
"There is no interruption to the outstanding care we provide ... the additional funding, while we do not anticipate it being required, provides additional support," Mr Spina said.
"The receivers and management share the same goal of maintaining our market-leading standards of patient care and protecting the business, the hospitals and our amazing people."
The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation earlier said it had been working with members and stakeholders navigating the financial difficulties and uncertainty.
"For the nurses and midwives who care for patients in Healthscope every day, this is a very difficult and worrying time," union official Phoebe Mansell said.
"The financial collapse of Healthscope is a stark and shocking reminder of the dangers of privatising essential healthcare services."
The operator owns the Northern Beaches Hospital in Sydney, Hobart Private Hospital, Darwin Private Hospital and Knox Private Hospital in Melbourne.
In May 2024, then chief executive Greg Horan said even though the sector was "facing considerable headwinds", providing the "best care" remained a top priority.
The company came under scrutiny following the death of two-year-old Joe Massa at the Northern Beaches Hospital in September 2024.
The toddler died after being wrongly triaged and waiting two hours for a hospital bed. He was later transferred to Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick following a cardiac arrest but succumbed to brain damage.
Healthscope moved to shutdown maternity services at Darwin Private Hospital and Hobart Private Hospital earlier in 2025.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sydney Morning Herald
30 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
This airline is facing the ultimate makeover test
Virgin Australia has completed one of the largest corporate makeovers in Australian history. From bankruptcy five years ago, in a few weeks, investors large and small will get an opportunity to punt on its shares – to decide whether this is a quality reno or one with just a lick of paint and floorboard polishing. The vendors, private equity outfit Bain, will be handsomely rewarded, as will a handful of its senior management who could pocket tens of millions of dollars if the airline's hockey stick earnings forecasts are met. But what about the new band of shareholders who have been offered shares in the new public listing, or those who are thinking of buying into Virgin after it lists at the end of the month? Loading Investing in aviation has a long history of being at the riskier end of the spectrum. Airlines are especially sensitive to black swan events such as COVID-19 or 9/11, but they are also susceptible to changing industry dynamics such as new entrants, disruption in market share, or the health of the economy. In the 25 years since its launch as the cheeky disruptor airline funded by Richard Branson, Virgin Blue has had many corporate faces – not all of them attractive in an earnings sense. In a financial sense, the period in which it sought to clone Qantas was a speculator failure. But the common theme has been its position as a challenger to Australia's aviation queen – Qantas. Virgin Blue was born in 2000 as a low-cost airline that carved out a new market, tapping into price-sensitive leisure customers who could not afford to fly Qantas or its then-rival Ansett, which collapsed the following year.
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
Urgent warning over popular garden flower sold at Bunnings
An ornamental flowering plant sold at Bunnings and other nurseries has been labelled dangerous to Australia's environment. Gazania daisies, bright coloured flowers native to South Africa, are a 'highly-invasive plant', a new study by La Trobe University said. According to the research, gazania seeds show a high tolerance for a wide range of environmental conditions, enabling them to spread more aggressively and destructively than previously expected. Your local paper, whenever you want it. As a result, researchers warn that the plant could become a problematic weed all year-round across much of Australia, potentially leading to widespread infestations. Gazania has already been found growing in a range of habitats, from coastal sand dunes and stream banks to wastelands, open grasslands, roadsides and cultivated or irrigated sites in southern and parts of Western Australia. 'These preliminary findings suggest this weed has the potential to develop a significant seedbank in Australian no-till grain production systems,' the report said. Invasive Species Council Advocacy manager Imogen Ebsworth has called for a national ban on the plant, expanding from the current restrictions in South Australia. 'Gazanias are the perfect example of an escaped invasive garden plant that needs to be banned from sale,' she said. 'I urge the nursery industry to act on this new evidence and stop selling it. 'Gazanias are not only overrunning native grasslands, coastlines and roadsides — they are moving into grain production areas, choking out crops and costing farmers.' Gazania daisies are bright coloured flowers native to South Africa. Credit: Carlos Tischler / Future Publishing via Getty Image Ebsworth said three-quarters of Australia's listed unstoppable weeds began as ornamental plants, adding that failing to act now would represent a 'regulatory failure'. 'We are calling on governments to take immediate steps to phase out high-risk species like gazania from nurseries and online marketplaces,' she said. Gazanias are sold legally through nurseries and plant retailers in various regions across Australia. Bunnings, one of the retailers stocking the plant, said it has no current plans to stop selling gazanias. 'Like many nurseries and retailers, we sell a wide range of locally-sourced plants across our stores and we work hard to create an assortment that caters to customer preferences and demand,' said Cam Rist, Bunnings Director of Merchandise. 'As always, we closely follow all relevant local biosecurity regulations and the advice of regulators about the plants we sell.' Customers are advised to check the plant label and consider local environmental suitability before purchasing.
7NEWS
an hour ago
- 7NEWS
Push to ban Gazania daisies after new research finds them harmful to Australian environment
An ornamental flowering plant sold at Bunnings and other nurseries has been labelled dangerous to Australia's environment. Gazania daisies, bright coloured flowers native to South Africa, are a 'highly-invasive plant', a new study by La Trobe University said. According to the research, gazania seeds show a high tolerance for a wide range of environmental conditions, enabling them to spread more aggressively and destructively than previously expected. As a result, researchers warn that the plant could become a problematic weed all year-round across much of Australia, potentially leading to widespread infestations. Gazania has already been found growing in a range of habitats, from coastal sand dunes and stream banks to wastelands, open grasslands, roadsides and cultivated or irrigated sites in southern and parts of Western Australia. 'These preliminary findings suggest this weed has the potential to develop a significant seedbank in Australian no-till grain production systems,' the report said. Invasive Species Council Advocacy manager Imogen Ebsworth has called for a national ban on the plant, expanding from the current restrictions in South Australia. 'Gazanias are the perfect example of an escaped invasive garden plant that needs to be banned from sale,' she said. 'I urge the nursery industry to act on this new evidence and stop selling it. 'Gazanias are not only overrunning native grasslands, coastlines and roadsides — they are moving into grain production areas, choking out crops and costing farmers.' Ebsworth said three-quarters of Australia's listed unstoppable weeds began as ornamental plants, adding that failing to act now would represent a 'regulatory failure'. 'We are calling on governments to take immediate steps to phase out high-risk species like gazania from nurseries and online marketplaces,' she said. Gazanias are sold legally through nurseries and plant retailers in various regions across Australia. Bunnings, one of the retailers stocking the plant, said it has no current plans to stop selling gazanias. 'Like many nurseries and retailers, we sell a wide range of locally-sourced plants across our stores and we work hard to create an assortment that caters to customer preferences and demand,' said Cam Rist, Bunnings Director of Merchandise. 'As always, we closely follow all relevant local biosecurity regulations and the advice of regulators about the plants we sell.'
