Latest news with #ToowongPrivateHospital
ABC News
11-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Toowong Private Hospital's purchase of artwork off director questioned by administrators
The sale of a $300,000 artwork by the director of a company operating a private psychiatric hospital in Brisbane has been questioned by administrators investigating the company's finances. The administrators' report states that at the time of the transaction, the company N.A. KRATZMANN & SONS PTY. LTD., which operates Toowong Private Hospital, "was experiencing financial difficulty" and purchasing the artwork from the director "does not appear to have been to the benefit of the company". Administrators believe the artwork is still in the director's possession. It was not clear why the company entered into the transaction with its sole director, Wayne Kratzmann, in June 2024, according to the voluntary administrators' report. However, administrators said that before the sale "the artwork was valued by a valuer, and the sale amount which was paid to the director was returned to the company and offset against related party debts owed to the company". The report states there was a long-term loan arrangement between the director and the company, with $1.4 million outstanding. Preliminary investigations showed the sale may "constitute an unreasonable director related transaction", according to the report. But administrators said, "further investigations are required to… confirm if the consideration for the transaction was at arm's length, and if so, the artwork into the void can be recovered and realised for the benefit of creditors". The report said the company had faced "mounting financial pressures due to the increased operating costs in the psychiatric care sector, compounded by impacts of COVID". Administrators said it appeared to have operated on thin margins historically, experiencing increasing strain over the past five years. Net losses amounted to $4.7m from FY22 to FY24, and the company was unable to sell the hospital in mid-2024. The director anticipated in May the company was likely to become insolvent and administrators were appointed. The hospital was expected to cease all trading on Wednesday, with administrators providing staff with notice about the end of their employment. Administrators said at this stage they believed it was "in the best interests of the creditors that the company is wound up". The ABC has made attempts to contact Mr Kratzmann for comment.
ABC News
10-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Psychiatric patients don't know where to turn as Toowong Private Hospital gets set to close its doors
Cain Chambers knows he would not be alive if it wasn't for Toowong Private Hospital. Warning: This story contains details that may trouble some readers. The Australian Army veteran of 13 years was admitted there after his wife found him passed out on their front lawn, in 2022. and rushed him to hospital. Mr Chambers loved serving in the army but says he suffered from PTSD as the result of an incident that occurred during a training exercise where he witnessed a young man die in a car accident. "I was having a lot of nightmares ... I started drinking a lot, and it kept getting progressively worse," Mr Chambers told 7.30. The low point was that day in 2022 and he said he could not remember what had occurred the previous night. He was treated as an inpatient at Toowong Private for several months, before participating in the hospital's nation-leading trauma recovery program for veterans and first responders, which runs as an outpatient program over 12 weeks. "It's a place that any veteran with mental health needs should be going. The support they give is excellent." As one of three major private psychiatric hospitals in central Brisbane, the family-owned facility has been a lifeline in Brisbane's inner-west for almost 50 years, treating thousands of patients. At the start of this year Mr Chambers relapsed and immediately reached out for help. He was admitted back into Toowong's care. But like thousands of others who have relied on Toowong, Mr Chambers will no longer have the hospital's innovative care to fall back on, after the facility descended into an untenable financial position. When the owners — The Kratzmann family — failed to find a buyer, the hospital entered voluntary administration last month. After an "urgent review" they determined the hospital would be forced to close. The hospital's financial woes were driven by the rising cost of care, the shortfall in what health insurance funds will cover for hospital care, and the decline in hospital-based psychiatrists. "There's nowhere else that's the same, that I can get to." Toowong Private Hospital is a 58-bed facility that treats about 3,000 patients every year, with 154 employed staff. It's a pioneer in psychiatric treatment and the only private psychiatric hospital in Queensland to offer intravenous ketamine for inpatients with severe depression. Kerrie Czernia is one of the last inpatients at the facility. Having battled a major depressive issue for over 30 years, she believes she finally found the right treatment plan at Toowong — intravenous ketamine — but the hospital will close before she finishes her treatment. "There is that worry, there's that anxiety, stress, you know, where are we going [now]? What are we going to be given?" Ms Czernia said. It's Ms Czernia's fourth admission at the hospital, which she describes as a life-saver. Ms Czernia is worried that the next time she is ill she will have no option but to use the already stretched public hospital system. "You have to be really unwell," she said. "And I don't ever want to have to get to that stage [where] I can then access public health." Her concerns are shared by healthcare professionals like Dr Joshua Geffen, who after 25 years at Toowong has had to pack up his office. Dr Geffen is desperately trying to find alternatives for patients who rely on Toowong, to pick them back up when their mental health goes down. "Very unwell people are going to have less access to care. They're going to finish up ramped in emergency departments," Dr Geffen told 7.30. There is a small number of other facilities in inner-Brisbane: Ramsay Clinic in New Farm, Belmont Private Hospital at Carina Heights, Nundah Private Hospital and Avive Clinic in Windsor. Dr Geffen has been frantically contacting those venues to get admitting rights. "I have to ask colleagues who are also overburdened to take on the care of a patient who they don't know and doesn't know them, so it's profoundly disruptive and that runs the risk of having serious health consequences for patients." One of the factors leading to Toowong Private's demise was a decline in admitting psychiatrists at the facility, which is part of a national trend where fewer specialists are based in hospitals because it is more profitable to work in private clinics. Dr Geffen described the situation there as "bizarre". Despite there being a waitlist, beds have remained empty due to there not being enough admitting psychiatrists. Brett Heffernan of the Australian Private Hospitals Association said one of the main problems private hospitals face comes from health insurers underfunding private hospitals. "They've banked more than $2 billion a year in record profits, while they've short-changed hospitals to the tune of more than a billion dollars a year." The CEO of Private Healthcare Australia Rachel David disputed that claim. "Health fund payments to hospitals have increased by 8 per cent over the last 12 months, which is well above inflation" Ms David said. "And if you track back what health funds have been paying hospitals, it's followed health inflation almost exactly for the last 10 years." In a statement to 7.30, Queensland Health said the department was in close contact with the hospital's administrators to "ensure a smooth transition for patients" to other private mental health facilities or services. "The continuity of care for the patients is Queensland Health's priority, we are also resourced to provide suitable care, if required", the statement said. Brett Emmerson, chair of the Queensland branch of the College of Psychiatrists, says the impact on patients from Toowong will be profound. "Patients will end up in the public system, particularly at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and the Prince Charles Hospital," Dr Emmerson said. "It's still undecided what's going to happen to that veterans program, but it's a program of national significance. "It provides evidence-based care not only to veterans but police and ambulance workers. Mr Chambers remains hopeful that Toowong can be saved even as the doors prepare to close. "I would love for someone to save it. I'd like to know that if I had to go back into hospital, I'd be back in Toowong," he said. Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV Do you know more about this story? Get in touch with 7.30 here.
ABC News
09-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Patients call on Queensland government to step in and save embattled Toowong Private Hospital
The Queensland government is facing desperate pleas to make an 11th-hour bid to save Toowong Private Hospital, with patients describing the mental health facility as life-changing. Eliza Johnston, 34, said the hospital had saved her life "on numerous occasions". "Without it, there's nowhere else to go — the public system just doesn't cover it," she said. "The public system will discharge you unless you're a danger to somebody else. Under the public system I was going to die, and this hospital saved me. "I think anything should be done to save the beds." The former Toowong Private patient was among about 40 people who stood outside the 58-bed hospital on Monday afternoon to protest its impending closure. Another patient, who gave his name as Ryan, said he had been going to the facility for 25 years. "I just don't want to see this hospital close down, because there's so many loving and caring people that look after us," he said. Asked to give a message to the Queensland government about the closure, he said: "You can't close down the hospital." "Too many people need the care and support, and they've got nowhere else to go. It's just a horrible situation for everyone," he said. The Queensland Greens MP for the Brisbane-based seat of Maiwar, Michael Berkman, also attended the rally, repeating impassioned calls for the Crisafulli government to step in and buy the hospital — which would have turned 50 next year. "We have a mental health crisis here in Queensland and across the country," Mr Berkman said. "The last thing we can afford to see is these kinds of acute mental health beds being lost to the system. "We need to be building the state's capacity." Mr Berkman said he had been "astounded" by the number of people who had contacted his office to express dismay at the collapse of Toowong Private, which is expected to close its doors for the last time later this week. "It seems like just about everyone in this community knows someone or has some connection with a patient in the hospital previously," he said. Psychiatrist Brett Emmerson, Queensland branch chair of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, said the sunshine state was about 300 to 350 mental health beds short of what it needed. "Access is getting worse," he said. "It's dire. We're in trouble. They don't ever seem to find enough money for mental health." At the same time, Professor Emmerson said psychiatry was experiencing "a workforce crisis". "We actually are not graduating enough people to fill the needs now and into the future," he said. "There was a survey of private practitioners — a lot of them are burnt out, and a lot of them are overwhelmed with work." Professor James Scott, the medical superintendent of Ramsay Health's New Farm psychiatric clinic in Brisbane's inner north, said it was becoming increasingly hard to recruit psychiatrists willing to admit patients into private hospitals. "Most psychiatrists have outpatient practices," he said. "The psychiatrists who are treating patients in hospital, they're getting paid sometimes as little as a third of what they'd earn if they were looking after outpatients … for looking after much more complex people. "It's not a sustainable workforce model." Professor Scott called for more public-private partnerships in mental health to increase capacity. He said Toowong Private Hospital had "some of the best psychiatrists in Australia" practising there. "They were providing excellent care, and the state government could have utilised some of that facility to take the burden off," Professor Scott said. A spokesperson for Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls said his department continued to work with Toowong Private to determine what impact its closure may have on public mental health services, and to "support continuity of care, if required". "Queensland Health understands that all inpatients at Toowong hospital will be transferred to other private mental health facilities in Brisbane," the spokesperson said. Last week, the minister told ABC Radio Brisbane that Toowong Private tended to treat "lower acuity patients", a statement that was condemned by the protesters. "It was terribly disappointing to hear Tim Nicholls's comment that patients that come to Toowong Private Hospital are not acutely unwell. It's just not true," Eliza Johnston said. "I'm a former patient, and the patients here are as unwell as they get.
The Age
21-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
‘Beacon of hope': Future of Brisbane private hospital remains unclear
One of Brisbane's leading psychiatric hospitals has entered voluntary administration amid a funding crisis that threatens the viability of private hospitals nationwide. Toowong Private Hospital has provided crucial in-patient and out-patient psychiatric care to Queenslanders for more than four decades, but it's now at risk of closure. The family-owned hospital last week appointed accounting firm EY as administrators after 'unsuccessful attempts to explore a sale in recent months'. In a statement, administrator David Kennedy said EY was committed to ensuring the hospital continued to operate on a business-as-usual basis, 'whilst a decision can be made regarding the future of the operations'. 'We understand the challenges the company has faced, particularly in the trading environment since the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are undertaking an urgent financial and operational assessment of the company's options,' Kennedy said. 'Our focus will also include exploring potential options for a sale.' However, finding a buyer will be challenging in the current climate, in which private hospitals and health insurers are at odds over who should shoulder the soaring cost of medical treatment, while the federal government is reluctant to intervene and has refused to bail out providers. An industry source with knowledge of Toowong Private Hospital said the facility could no longer service its debts after years of being short-changed by health insurers while the cost of providing treatment skyrocketed. The 58-bed hospital on Milton Road was founded by influential Brisbane builder and philanthropist Noel Austin Kratzmann, who chaired the facility until his death in 1989.
Sydney Morning Herald
21-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Beacon of hope': Future of Brisbane private hospital remains unclear
One of Brisbane's leading psychiatric hospitals has entered voluntary administration amid a funding crisis that threatens the viability of private hospitals nationwide. Toowong Private Hospital has provided crucial in-patient and out-patient psychiatric care to Queenslanders for more than four decades, but it's now at risk of closure. The family-owned hospital last week appointed accounting firm EY as administrators after 'unsuccessful attempts to explore a sale in recent months'. In a statement, administrator David Kennedy said EY was committed to ensuring the hospital continued to operate on a business-as-usual basis, 'whilst a decision can be made regarding the future of the operations'. 'We understand the challenges the company has faced, particularly in the trading environment since the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are undertaking an urgent financial and operational assessment of the company's options,' Kennedy said. 'Our focus will also include exploring potential options for a sale.' However, finding a buyer will be challenging in the current climate, in which private hospitals and health insurers are at odds over who should shoulder the soaring cost of medical treatment, while the federal government is reluctant to intervene and has refused to bail out providers. An industry source with knowledge of Toowong Private Hospital said the facility could no longer service its debts after years of being short-changed by health insurers while the cost of providing treatment skyrocketed. The 58-bed hospital on Milton Road was founded by influential Brisbane builder and philanthropist Noel Austin Kratzmann, who chaired the facility until his death in 1989.
