Latest news with #Toowong
ABC News
17 hours ago
- Health
- ABC News
Calls for changes to mental health funding as Toowong Private Hospital announces closure after nearly 50 years
The financially strapped Toowong Private Hospital in Brisbane will close this week amid concerns seven other private mental health hospitals across the country are at "imminent" risk of collapse. Australian Private Hospitals Association chief executive Brett Heffernan blamed "rapacious profiteering" by health funds over three years as the over-arching reason for the 58-bed hospital's closure and the potential loss of more private psychiatric facilities. But Rachel David, Private Healthcare Australia's CEO, who represents health insurers, rejected the accusation. She's calling for a new model of funding for mental health care, saying psychiatrists were not admitting as many of their patients to hospitals. "Even if we were to double what we paid hospitals it still wouldn't stop the closure of more stand-alone mental health facilities," Dr David said. "There is a strong preference … only to treat the most severely unwell patients in hospital." For Toowong Private Hospital patients, such as Rebecca Kuenstner, who has been going to the facility in Brisbane's west for almost nine years, it has been a place of healing. "This has probably been the best thing that's ever happened to me," she said through tears. "It gave me a family pretty much. It's given me that sense of belonging really. "Especially when you live alone, it's quite difficult not having that support." Ms Kuenstner, 37, a former member of the Australian Defence Force who was medically discharged in 2014, has benefited from being an inpatient at Toowong Private Hospital, as well as completing courses there designed for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). "I do come here quite regularly," she said. "You can come back and it's a very open space where you don't feel judged at all so you can go back and enjoy a cup of tea and chat to them. "That connection is probably the most important one after you're discharged so you're not left on your own. That was a very important part of my journey." She said she was barely able to leave home when she first started attending the hospital in 2016. The Toowong hospital, which treated 3,000 patients annually and would have celebrated half a century of operation in May next year, was expected to close on Wednesday. Its administrators said in a statement they were still investigating the reasons for its failure but "it is understood that the hospital was operating at a loss for several years". Mr Heffernan, who represents more than 600 private hospitals across Australia, said one major health fund had refused to renegotiate an annual contract with the hospital for 13 months. Another group had "simply refused point blank to contract with the hospital at all". The Toowong hospital closure comes as a cloud also hangs over 37 private hospitals run by Healthscope, which went into receivership late last month after its lenders withdrew support. However, Mr Heffernan said it was important to differentiate the Healthscope financial woes from the rest of the sector. "It's fair to say that Healthscope has had its own unique problems over a number of years in terms of its financial position and its financial management," he said. "What the rest of the sector is facing is a rampant health insurance industry." Mr Heffernan described Toowong Private's closure as "a massive loss to mental health". "We have a mental health crisis in this country and for an exemplar hospital to be forced out of business due to purely and simply the greed of the health insurers and the negligence of a federal government, that has known about this for two-and-a-half years but refused to act, is unfathomable," Mr Heffernan said. "Toowong is just the tip of the iceberg moving forward. We've been advised by eight of our members, in addition to Toowong, that they are in a similar situation facing imminent closure, seven of those are mental health facilities. Mr Heffernan did not want to name the hospitals publicly for fear of distressing patients and staff. He said the Toowong hospital had opened its books to Federal Health Minister Mark Butler more than two years ago to explain a shortfall in its funding. "Two months ago, the federal health minister laid down the gauntlet to the insurance industry saying you need to fix your house, you need to pay more of what you are taking to the actual providers of health care, being the hospitals," Mr Heffernan said. "We're two months down the track, nothing has changed. Our expectation at this point is that the federal government has no choice but to act, to intervene and to regulate the private health insurers to ensure that the traditional ratio of at least 88 cents in the dollar from premiums flows through to the actual providers of health care rather than just filling health insurers' coffers." In a statement, Mr Butler said he had called on insurers to "urgently increase the amount they pay out for hospital services and restore funding equilibrium across the sector". He said the federal government would continue to work on "long-term reforms to support the sustainability of the private health sector". "Ultimately, the solutions lie with insurers and hospitals working together," Mr Butler said. He has created a forum of private hospital and health fund CEOs with the Australian Medical Association and some patient groups to discuss potential solutions. "I've put a range of ideas that I want them to consider seriously about changes, particularly to mental health services," Mr Butler said. Dr David, who has represented health funds including big insurers such as Bupa, Medibank Private and NIB since 2016, would like to see them able to fund some of the costs of outpatient specialist appointments. She said some consumers were avoiding seeing a private psychiatrist in their consulting rooms because of fees of up to $988 for a first consultation. "We need a funding model that takes account of the fact that because of improvements in medication and techniques and medical understanding, a lot more mental health treatment is taking place in the community now than it did in the 1980s and 1990s," Dr David said. "I think that health funds do need the opportunity to be more flexible in how they fund mental health care, given we are in … a mental health crisis." While she's "still shocked" at the hospital's pending closure, Rebecca Kuenstner said she was yet to feel anger, adding with a laugh: "I've had a lot of therapy". "Moving forward, I haven't found where I'm going to be going to or where my support's going to be in the future … if I need help," she said.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rent tactic allows Aussie to buy $435,000 property with tiny deposit: ‘Ground-breaking'
Rent-to-buy schemes have emerged as a new pathway for Aussies to escape the rental rat race and get onto the property ladder. But finance experts have warned there are major risks to be aware of. Jude Healey purchased a two-bedroom Toowong apartment for his family through the rent-to-buy company PublicSquare. The 44-year-old dad of two told Yahoo Finance he was looking to move into the Brisbane suburb quickly so his family was within the school catchment area, but didn't have enough cash to take out a traditional mortgage. 'I had money tied up elsewhere and I could not come up with a deposit, but I needed to move pretty quickly to make sure [my son] had the opportunity,' he said. 'The requirement for me to pay rent [in the area] would have been maybe $800 or $900, which would have been tighter for me to be able to achieve.' RELATED Landlord's 'greedy' question prompts explanation of what happens when a tenant dies: 'Will I keep getting rent?' Homebuyers warned over 'magical phrase' used by Australian agents to increase prices Accountant's ATO warning as $5,000 expenses you can claim on tax without receipts revealed Healey, a HR professional who already owned property, said the rent-to-buy model offered an alternative way for him to get into the market when and where he needed to. He was able to secure his property with a $13,000 deposit, known as a "kickstarter fee". Rent was set at $412 per week, plus an extra 50 per cent on top of that, which went towards building up his deposit. After three years, he switched from the rental arrangement to a mortgage and completed the purchase with a final value of $435,000. Healey said he was 'really happy' with his decision in hindsight, and it had been an "absolute boon" for his sons. PublicSquare has described itself as a 'groundbreaking' rent-to-buy scheme that allows prospective home-buyers to secure properties with a deposit of 1.1 per cent. 'Customers can choose from the properties listed on the website and our building panel,' PublicSquare CEO Dean Arnold told Yahoo Finance. 'The stock we list on our website is around 30 per cent of the stock we have access to. We work with a builder panel of around 35 different builders across Australia.' Homebuyers then pay weekly rent, plus an extra 50 per cent on top, which accumulates in a deposit fund. Once the homebuyer builds up enough of a deposit, they can complete the purchase by switching to a mortgage. The home can be purchased for its initial value, plus a 4 to 7 per cent compound annual growth rate, with the amount range to be determined by an independent valuer. If you're unable to obtain a home loan, PublicSquare said they can sell the property and this can allow you to recover the contributions you've already made. While there will be no sales commission charged to you, you will have to pay a $3,300 marketing fee and your initial 1.1 per cent deposit fee won't be refunded. University of Queensland finance professor Dr Shaun Bond said it was great to see companies offering different homeownership pathways, given how challenging it is right now for first-home buyers and young people to get a foot in. 'The standard 20 per cent down payment, or less down payment but mortgage insurance, doesn't suit everyone and companies that have tried to innovate are something that should be encouraged,' he told Yahoo Finance. 'The downside is that there is no perfect solution here, and this type of approach clearly has downsides.' On top of the initial deposit being non-refundable, Bond noted that saving an extra 50 per cent on top of weekly rent just wouldn't be affordable for lower-income earners. 'It may be better that some of those individuals delay the potential for homeownership but really focus on their savings," he said. "Then they are going to have a lot more options when it comes time to buy, they're not locking in." Bond said the scheme also baked in increases to home prices. 'You're not really gaining the equity that you would with a more standard purchase arrangement,' he said. Bond noted you also would miss out on the consumer protections given to traditional mortgage holders during the rental phase, including protections around missing payments. Another risk was if the rent-to-buy provider runs into financial difficulties, which has happened in the United States. In overseas cases, properties have been foreclosed by the borrower and the renter who was set to purchase the home has been left with no claim. PublicSquare said it had a three-month waitlist for investors wanting to participate in the program, along with thousands of pre-approved homebuyers. While Bond said he would be 'reluctant' for individuals on very low incomes to enter rent-to-buy schemes, there are some individuals who the scheme may suit as long as they understand the risks involved. 'Sometimes we see workers coming from overseas and it might be hard for you to access a traditional mortgage right from the beginning of your time here because you don't have that credit history in Australia,' he said. 'But maybe you've got a good income, perhaps you've got some savings already. Individuals who are skilled workers and maybe will be able to access a traditional mortgage in another year or two.' Bond recommended getting professional legal and financial advice if you were considering entering a rent-to-buy scheme. 'You need to be very clear about the risks and what would happen in certain situations, if you missed a payment, for instance, or if you change your mind,' he said. 'As a renter, you can just hand the keys back and leave. But in one of these arrangements, you have to think about what you will lose. "You potentially lose a lot of the upfront fees that you've paid. There's a lot less flexibility here."Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data
