HOSPITAL SHAKE-UP
107-bed Geelong Private to shut in a month Staff shattered as they hear the news Barwon Health exploring options for site
BARWON Health has extended an invitation to Geelong Private Hospital’s employees to apply for work in the public sector after its closure was announced yesterday.
Up to 270 people face the axe after Healthscope announced its Ryrie St operations would wrap up by the end of the financial year .
Barwon Health owns the site but would not say how the closure would affect its services or what its plans for the building are.
Communications director Kate Bibby said the public provider would “explore opportunities to use the facility for the betterment of the community.”
“We recognise this closure will have a significant impact on the staff employed by Healthscope at Geelong Private and we encourage staff affected to apply for positions at Barwon Health when they become available,” Ms Bibby said.
“The Geelong community deserves access to affordable, high quality, and safe care.
“That’s why we’ll be working with the Department of Health and the community to ensure Healthscope’s intention to cease the hospital facilities leasing arrangement will not impact access to health services in the region.”
Formerly the Baxter House maternity wing, the site became a private operation in the mid-1990s.
AS MANY as 270 people could lose their jobs, after Geelong Private Hospital yesterday announced it would close its doors within four weeks.
The hospital’s owner, Healthscope, released a statement confirming its Geelong and Kew sites would close, and significant changes would happen at its Frankston operation.
The 107-bed Geelong Private Hospital employs 293 people and provides surgical, cardiac and general medical care.
Only a handful of Geelong-region staff will remain employed by Healthscope, with some likely to take up the option of redeployment.
Healthscope chief executive Gordon Ballantyne inferred the opening of Epworth Waurn Ponds and the expansion of St John of God were factors behind the demise.
“The closure of Geelong Private ultimately reflects a changed healthcare environment in Geelong and the surrounding region,” Mr Ballantyne said.
“Significant new hospital infra- structure development in Geelong in recent years means that clinicians and patients now have a range of other hospital treatment options.”
He said The Geelong Clinic, which Healthscope also operates, would be unaffected by the private hospital closure. An ongoing expansion of the clinic was set to continue unimpeded.
State Health Minister Jill Hennessy was asked whether the Government would boost funding to Barwon Health to cope with extra pressure on the adjoining hospital’s resources.
Ms Hennessy made no promises, but said funding previously announced in the State Budget for health would be allocated “in coming weeks, and we’ll be having a good look at the needs of each health service”.
Opposition health spokeswoman Mary Wooldridge said Barwon Health was “already bursting at the seams”.
“The Health Minister needs to ensure that the closure of Geelong Private does not result in reduced access or quality of care at the public hospital,” Ms Wooldridge said.
Yesterday, Healthscope management was in the process of contacting patients currently in the hospital — and patients who have future treatment scheduled there — to assure them that their care would not be adversely impacted.
Corio MP Richard Marles criticised Healthscope for a “shockingly short notice period for a facility this important to our community”.
“Healthscope has a responsibility to patients and staff in Geelong,” Mr Marles said.
“We particularly need to hear more about how they are going to take care of people expecting vital surgery and other care.”
Monash IVF was contacted by the Geelong Advertiser to explain if the closure would impact its future at the site, but did not respond.
Formerly known as Baxter House maternity centre, which was opened in 1954, the centre became Geelong Private Hospital in 1998 with Healthscope taking over five years later.
Geelong Mayor Bruce Harwood said: “The Geelong community is well-catered for with a number of hospitals still servicing our region including University Hospital Geelong, St John of God, the Epworth and a number of private health practices.
“While this closure will have an impact on staff, we anticipate many people will be absorbed by Geelong’s existing health facilities around the region.”