St Helens Private Hospital closure: Jeremy Rockliff rules out taking over facility

The Premier has ruled out a respite for a Hobart mental health facility slated for closure by its private operators. Jeremy Rockliff revealed his reasons for the decision in a heated parliament exchange.

Greens MP Rosalie Woodruff speaks to the media on Parliament Lawns in Hobart on Wednesday, May 10, 2023.

The state government has ruled out buying and taking over the St Helens Private Hospital in Hobart which is set to close within weeks.

Private health provider Healthscope has announced the closure of the mental health hospital on May 2.

The 39-bed facility will close at the end of June.

Premier and Health Minister Jeremy Rockliff announced on Monday that hospital’s dedicated Mother and Baby Unit — the only one in the state — would be moved to the Royal Hobart Hospital.

But Greens health spokeswoman Rosalie Woodruff said the government needed to do more.

“Your response to date has been weak,” she told Mr Rockliff in Parliament on Wednesday.

“Just three beds will be dedicated for mothers at the Royal Hobart Hospital, displacing three inpatient beds the hospital does not have spare.

St Helen's Private Hospital, Hobart. Picture: Chris Kidd

‘Most devastating for patients and staff has been your non-response on the other high-level mental health care that St Helens Private Hospital provides.

“If the Labor and Liberal parties can get together and spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a stadium, they can get together and fund a critical lifesaving clinic.

“Will you commit to investigating the purchase of this site as a public health facility?”

Mr Rockliff said taking over the hospital, which operates out of a 100-year-old heritage-listed building, was not on the cards.

“We are not contemplating buying St Helens Private Hospital.

Premier Jeremy Rockliff. Question time in the Tasmanian parliament. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“This is a landlocked, ageing, heritage-listed hospital facility. It is not fit for purpose for Healthscope and private healthcare, and is not fit for purpose for public health services either.

“Okay? Upfront and honest with you about that, it is simply not fit for purpose. Tasmanian patients and our health staff deserve contemporary and modern facilities.”

Mr Rockliff is the Minister for Health and the Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing.

He said he could understand the anxiety of patients and staff surrounding the impending closure.

“St Helens is a private hospital facility. The decision by Healthscope to close the St Helens Private Hospital is very disappointing,” he said.

“What we have been able to do, acknowledging that it is a private hospital, is that when the private system lets people down, the public system steps in.

“That is exactly what we have done and will continue to do as we work through this challenging time.”

Mr Rockliff said the government was working to find other providers from both the public and private sectors to deliver the services currently being offered at the site.