Peel Health Campus officially transitioned from a private to publicly owned and operated facility on Tuesday.
Peel Health Campus officially transitioned from a private to publicly owned and operated facility on Tuesday.
The South Metropolitan Health Service will now manage and operate PHC on behalf of the state government – a facility over the past 11 years had been run by Ramsay Health Care, Australia’s largest private hospital operator.
In a statement, Ramsay said it had been working closely with South Metropolitan during the handover period.
“We have been honoured to deliver exceptional care to tens of thousands of patients each year while supporting hundreds of local healthcare jobs in one of WA’s fastest-growing population centres,” Ramsay said.
Sydney-headquartered Ramsay still has a large presence in Western Australia, operating private hospitals such as Glengarry, Hollywood and Joondalup.
Around 95 per cent of existing staff will remain at PHC following the transition, while several new positions – including a newly-created Aboriginal health liaison officer position – have also been added to its workforce.
“From today, Peel Health Campus will be a government-operated hospital, delivering a major election commitment of the Cook Labor government,” Health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said.
“We are also undertaking a major redevelopment of the hospital to ensure it continues to meet the needs of the region into the future.
“The upgrade will mean more beds, more outpatient services and an additional mental health emergency centre for the local community.”
The state government also reiterated remarks from May 9 regarding the $152 million PHC re-development project budget - stating it would be updated once final planning has been completed, with existed funding used to progress enabling re-development works.
On November 29 2020, former premier Mark McGowan announced Ramsey's privatisation would end at the PHC by 2023, along with flagging plans for a $152 million re-development project at the facility.
However on November 29 2022, Ms Sanderson told state parliament that the private to public transition would be delayed by an additional year, citing information and communication infrastructure-based issues.
Following Tuesday's announcement, state opposition leader Libby Mettam told Business News she felt outcomes were “going backwards” at the facility, with cost of the transfer impacting taxpayers.
Earlier this year, Ramsay submitted an application to the City of Mandurah for a proposed private hospital to be built near the PHC, which received state approval.
