Clock ticking for Glenelg private hospital that needs $8m lifeline to meet a legal deadline for new sterilisation requirements

The not-for-profit Glenelg Community Hospital has cared for patients for 71 years, but a looming legal deadline for an expensive upgrade puts its future in grave doubt.

One of South Australia’s last remaining not-for-profit community hospitals says it is at risk of closure if it can’t secure an $8m lifeline to meet a looming legal deadline to comply with sterilisation rules.

The call for help from the Glenelg Community Hospital comes after two patients suffered post-operative infections following eye surgery earlier this month.

The hospital’s chief executive Deborah Muldoon said the possible cause of the infections had been fully investigated via an external infection control consultant and there was no evidence hospital procedures were breached or were the cause of the infections.

Glenelg Community Hospital CEO Deborah Muldoon.

“Our hospital prides itself on its infection-control measures and the high-quality standards of care that protect the health and safety of the South Australian community,” said Ms Muldoon.

The GCH board is seeking financial support from the state government, through Health Minister Stephen Wade’s office, and from the wider community to keep its doors open after December 31, 2023.

That is when the new Reprocessing of Reusable Medical Devices Standard must be met nationally.

Under the standard, the hospital will need an $8m upgrade to meet the more stringent sterilisation requirements which include segregation of clean and used device areas and better storage of sterile stock.

Ms Muldoon said the hospital was otherwise financially sound.

“(But) we just don’t have the sufficient financial reserves needed to fund this required one-off legislative upgrade,” she said.

“And if we can’t comply, we may have to stop operating and close. I don’t want to alarm people but that is the reality of our position.”

The hospital was established 71 years ago by the Apex Club of Glenelg. It employs more than 100 staff and performs almost 10,000 surgeries a year.

Administrative manager Caroline Evans said: “It is our livelihood and there are a lot of staff who have been here for a long time.”

Caroline Evans has worked at Glenelg Community Hospital for 30 years and many of her life milestones have a connection with the facility. Picture: Matt Loxton

Ms Evans was born at the hospital in 1968.

And in turn, she then spent the first few days after giving birth to daughter Charlotte Osborne at the hospital in 1998.

Ms Evans has worked at the hospital for 30 years, was born there in 1968 and was transferred there from Ashford Hospital hours after giving birth to daughter Charlotte in 1998.

“The hospital and the staff have always been here for the community and supported the community and it would be lovely now if the community could support us as we move forward in the future,” she said.

Glenelg is one of three community hospitals still running in SA after Parkwynd Private Hospital on East Tce shutdown in April, with 103 jobs lost.

A spokeswoman for Mr Wade said: “State governments rarely fund capital works for private hospitals.”