Catalyst Health buys former Gympie Private Hospital for $6.5m

The facility once home to Gympie’s private hospital before it unexpectedly shut in 2019 has been sold, raising new questions as to the future of the site.

The facility once home to Gympie’s private hospital before it unexpectedly shut in 2019 has been sold, raising new questions as to the future of the site. Photo Patrick Woods / Gympie Times

Gympie’s former private hospital is under new ownership after a company led by members of a Sydney-based health care investment trust bought the facility for a six figure sum.

Catalyst Gympie SPV Pty Ltd are the new owners of the 7871m sq facility, having finalised its purchase for $6.5 million in December, CoreLogic RP Data records show.

ABN records show the company was first registered on November 29, less than a month before the December 20 sale date of the facility.

The property had been on the market since April 2022.

The $6.5 million price tag was $430,000 less than what it’s previous owners, the Trust Company (Australia) Ltd, paid for it in 2015.

The facility served as Gympie’s private hospital until it was unexpectedly shut in February 2019 by operators Healthe Care, who said it was no longer financially viable to operate.

Advertising for the property said it remains under lease to Healthe Care until July 2030, but was a “fantastic value add or redevelopment potential”.

“The facility remains the only private hospital facility in Gympie, offering ongoing opportunities to reinstate a private hospital operator with capacity for 40 beds and two operating theatres,” the listing said.

ASIC documents for Catalyst Gympie SPV show Justin Laboo as one of its three directors, and Simon Cunningham as its secretary.

Mr Laboo and Mr Cunningham are part of the team running Catalyst Health REIT, a real-estate investment trust which “partners with high-quality health care operators who are looking to develop new health care facilities under long-term leasehold partnerships”.

The company’s website says Catalyst is looking to develop new residential age care facilities and serviced apartments.

Mr Laboo has been contacted regarding Catalyst’s plans for the future of the site.

It was originally put on the market as part of a wider portfolio of nine facilities across the country including the Mackay Private Hospital, IPN Forest Lake, and the Rockingham Medical Centre in Western Australia before being sold separately.

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The unexpected closure of the facility at the end of February 2019 left the Gympie region without a private hospital.

Healthe Care Australia shut the service after determining it was unviable to keep it open.

The company had taken over the site in 2017.

Difficulty attracting medical, surgical and anaesthetic staff, growing competition from other nearby services and the significant amount of investment required at the property were the key reasons behind the closure.