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.
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Sydney Morning Herald
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- Sydney Morning Herald
Australia news as it happened: Albanese addresses shooting of Nine journalist; Monash IVF caught in second embryo transfer bungle;
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The Age
an hour ago
- The Age
Australia news as it happened: Albanese addresses shooting of Nine journalist; Monash IVF caught in second embryo transfer bungle;
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The activists set out from Sicily a week ago to protest Israel's ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip and its tight restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid, which have put 2.3 million Palestinians at risk of famine. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organised the voyage, said the activists were 'kidnapped by Israeli forces' about 200 kilometres off Gaza while trying to deliver desperately needed food, baby formula and medical supplies. With AP, Reuters 2.26pm Media union weighs in on Lauren Tomasi shooting By Amber Schultz The union representing Australian journalists has condemned the 'deliberate' targeting of Nine US Correspondent Lauren Tomasi, who was shot with a rubber bullet while reporting on immigration protests in Los Angeles. Loading In a statement on social media, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance said the 'shocking' footage was 'evidence of the lengths media workers go to report the truth'. 'Tomasi appears to be deliberately shot while she is speaking to the camera. Journalists reporting from the frontline of protests and wars fulfil the essential role of bearing witness, and should be accorded the same protections as other frontline workers,' the statement read. 'We are grateful to learn both Lauren and her camera person are safe, but this situation highlights the need to centre worker safety. No one deserves to be shot or injured during the course of their work.' 2.13pm Ban on machete sales working despite eBay ads, says Consumer Affairs Victoria By Madeleine Heffernan Consumer Affairs Victoria says its crackdown on the sale of machetes is working, despite advertisements for the weapons appearing on online marketplace eBay. Consumer Affairs told MPs on Wednesday its 14-strong machete taskforce had conducted 359 inspections, including more than 280 in-store inspections, since the Allan government announced an interim ban on the sale of machetes due to a spate of attacks. But Liberal MP Richard Welch questioned why advertisements for the weapon were still appearing on eBay. Consumer Affairs director Nicole Rich said the online retailer had provided assurances that the weapon could not be bought in the state. Loading 'One of the things that eBay has assured us that they've put in place is geoblocking technology, so even where a machete might appear for sale, whether a purchase can be completed, and also whether a machete will actually be delivered or will be cancelled when you try and make a purchase is a separate question,' Rich told the public accounts and estimates committee. 'And we're reasonably confident at the moment that that technology is working, and it would remain very difficult to purchase a machete on eBay.' The machete ban came into effect on May 28. Maximum penalties for breaching an interim product safety ban are $2.5 million for individuals and $50 million for companies. The government will move to permanently ban the possession, use and sale of machetes in Victoria later this year. 1.56pm Another election on the cards for Tassie By Alexander Darling Tasmanians – and the AFL – are watching and waiting to see if Liberal premier Jeremy Rockliff will call a snap election today. Last week, Rockliff narrowly lost a no-confidence motion moved against him in parliament by the state opposition. Loading Following this, Rockliff broke with parliamentary convention and chose not to step down. He is expected to visit the state's governor today to make the election request, following a sitting of state parliament to pass an emergency budget bill to ensure public servants get paid. Labor said it moved the no-confidence motion in response to what it called issues of financial management, government plans to privatise public assets and cost blowouts on projects such as new Spirit of Tasmania ferries. If an election is called, it will be the second for Tasmania in as many years and the fourth election in seven years, when elections are meant to be held every four years. On Tuesday morning, Police Minister Felix Ellis claimed he had texts 'sent by a member of [opposition leader Dean Winter's] inner sanctum' proving Winter's no-confidence motion was a power grab rather than moved in the interests of Tasmanians. Winter has tipped the purse strings would be tightened during an election campaign. 'This will not be a spendathon from Labor. Our state can't afford it,' he said. Over the weekend, Rockliff ruled out privatisations as a way of balancing the budget, in an attempt to defuse opposition attacks. The turmoil in the state's politics is likely to have repercussions for the Tasmania Devils, the planned 19th team in the AFL. The AFL Commission is meeting today and the political situation is likely to be on the agenda. 1.45pm What we know so far By Carla Jaeger Thanks for tuning into our live coverage of the latest national and international news, headed by Amber Schultz. I'm Carla Jaeger, and I'll be anchoring the blog for the rest of the afternoon. If you're just joining us, here's what you may have missed: A formal investigation is under way into the shooting with a rubber bullet of Nine News correspondent Lauren Tomasi, who was covering the ICE protests in Los Angeles. An IVF clinic in Melbourne has transferred the wrong embryo into a Melbourne woman, the second incident admitted by the fertility giant in as many months. 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The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Australian shares post record close as financials surge
Australia's share market has closed at its highest ever level as multiple sectors rallied on hopes of a trade resolution between the United States and China. The S&P/ASX200 rallied 66 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 8,581.7, as the broader All Ordinaries jumped 65.4 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 8,807.3. The rally on Tuesday came as the local bourse caught up on two positive Wall Street sessions after the long weekend and amid positive signs from US-China trade talks in London. The top 200 pipped its previous record close set on February 14, but came up short of that day's intraday peak of 8,615.2. Commonwealth Bank continued to defy gravity, breaking $182 for the first time as the financial sector also smashed its record to close with a combined market cap of more than $900 billion. The Australian dollar is buying 65.05 US cents, up from 64.41 US cents on Friday at 5pm, but still seemingly unable to break above 65.40 US cents, after a tepid rebound in consumer sentiment boosted the likelihood of more Reserve Bank interest rate cuts. Australia's share market has closed at its highest ever level as multiple sectors rallied on hopes of a trade resolution between the United States and China. The S&P/ASX200 rallied 66 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 8,581.7, as the broader All Ordinaries jumped 65.4 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 8,807.3. The rally on Tuesday came as the local bourse caught up on two positive Wall Street sessions after the long weekend and amid positive signs from US-China trade talks in London. The top 200 pipped its previous record close set on February 14, but came up short of that day's intraday peak of 8,615.2. Commonwealth Bank continued to defy gravity, breaking $182 for the first time as the financial sector also smashed its record to close with a combined market cap of more than $900 billion. The Australian dollar is buying 65.05 US cents, up from 64.41 US cents on Friday at 5pm, but still seemingly unable to break above 65.40 US cents, after a tepid rebound in consumer sentiment boosted the likelihood of more Reserve Bank interest rate cuts. Australia's share market has closed at its highest ever level as multiple sectors rallied on hopes of a trade resolution between the United States and China. The S&P/ASX200 rallied 66 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 8,581.7, as the broader All Ordinaries jumped 65.4 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 8,807.3. The rally on Tuesday came as the local bourse caught up on two positive Wall Street sessions after the long weekend and amid positive signs from US-China trade talks in London. The top 200 pipped its previous record close set on February 14, but came up short of that day's intraday peak of 8,615.2. Commonwealth Bank continued to defy gravity, breaking $182 for the first time as the financial sector also smashed its record to close with a combined market cap of more than $900 billion. The Australian dollar is buying 65.05 US cents, up from 64.41 US cents on Friday at 5pm, but still seemingly unable to break above 65.40 US cents, after a tepid rebound in consumer sentiment boosted the likelihood of more Reserve Bank interest rate cuts. Australia's share market has closed at its highest ever level as multiple sectors rallied on hopes of a trade resolution between the United States and China. The S&P/ASX200 rallied 66 points, or 0.78 per cent, to 8,581.7, as the broader All Ordinaries jumped 65.4 points, or 0.75 per cent, to 8,807.3. The rally on Tuesday came as the local bourse caught up on two positive Wall Street sessions after the long weekend and amid positive signs from US-China trade talks in London. The top 200 pipped its previous record close set on February 14, but came up short of that day's intraday peak of 8,615.2. Commonwealth Bank continued to defy gravity, breaking $182 for the first time as the financial sector also smashed its record to close with a combined market cap of more than $900 billion. The Australian dollar is buying 65.05 US cents, up from 64.41 US cents on Friday at 5pm, but still seemingly unable to break above 65.40 US cents, after a tepid rebound in consumer sentiment boosted the likelihood of more Reserve Bank interest rate cuts.
