Ramsay beds down WA opportunities

Ramsay Health Care Ltd is gearing up for one of its biggest jobs yet, with the $276 million redevelopment of the Joondalup Health Campus planned for completion by 2010.

Ramsay, the manager of the hospital, will be spending about $145 million alongside the state government’s contribution of $131 million to construct a new, stand-alone private hospital, which will more than double the hospital’s existing private bed capacity to 165 beds.

A further 237 public beds will be created to increase the total public beds to 515, in addition to the development of 10 new operating theatres and the expansion of the emergency department.

Ramsay’s investment at Joondalup is part of its brownfields capacity expansion program targeting hospitals that are facing capacity constraints.

Managing director Pat Grier said the redevelopment would occupy a fair portion of its Western Australian development program, which was already mobilised with the $120 million expansion of its Hollywood Private Hospital in Nedlands.

The company also operates Attadale Private Hospital and Glengarry Private Hospital Duncraig, both of which are earmarked for upgrades.

“Hollywood has proved that WA health insurance is booming, the demand for private health care is there,” Mr Grier said.

“The reasons Hollywood and Joondalup will be successful is because we’re making them co-located hospitals and aligning their activities with the public health system and universities. This is the hospital of the future, a campus of public and private services working in synergy.”

Incorporating quality consulting suites into campus hospitals was a core part of Ramsay’s strategy, Mr Grier said, in order to attract the best doctors to its facilities.

Mr Grier said Ramsay was looking for further opportunities to acquire or manage facilities around the country.

However, the company was moving to specialise in bigger, full-service hospitals in metropolitan areas, which worked to limit its options to some extent, he said.

“Apart from a few pockets of land, there’s not too many opportunities to build hospitals here in Australia. If you’re spending $300 million, the dynamics must be there; we couldn’t do too much more here I think,” Mr Grier said.

The solution, therefore, may be found offshore, and the company was actively looking for development opportunities in Asia and Europe to add to its portfolio.