'Astronomical' mess prompts hospital insurance plan
Any compensation paid for a hospital's early return to public hands will likely only acknowledge the collapsed private operator's investment rather than rewarding its failures.
Private equity-backed Healthscope's parent company appointed receivers in May, which the NSW government believes has opened the door to terminate a contract covering Sydney's beleaguered Northern Beaches Hospital.
The hospital was slated to remain privately operated until 2038.
Two-year-old Joe Massa died after he and his parents spent three hours waiting in the emergency department there in September, prompting the government to outlaw similar private-public partnerships in the future.
Treasurer Daniel Mookhey announced on Friday the government would amend a crossbencher's bill to provide a way out of the contract without activating provisions that could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars
Under the new provision, the final bill would be determined independently if an agreement could not be reached.
"Our preferred outcome is an agreed settlement and an agreed departure," Mr Mookhey told reporters on Friday.
"The northern beaches community deserves certainty around time, and equally the people of NSW need to know that we're not rewarding private equity and nor are we rewarding distressed debt buyers, who have turned up in the last four to five weeks with massive public cheques."
Healthscope chief executive Tino La Spina told AAP the company was not seeking any windfall gain in proposing to return the public hospital's operation in April.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman told reporters the government should reveal how much Healthscope is seeking.
"A contract has been signed and governments should honour those contracts, but we'll see what it is the government has proposed."
Before receivers were appointed, local MP Michael Regan introduced a bill in the NSW parliament providing a path to terminate the contract without paying compensation.
Terminating the contract without compensation could damage the state's reputation for future contracting and lead to potential drawn-out legal challenges that could delay a resolution.
"It is a consideration and we do want to demonstrate to people that we are very conscientious and we're very careful about how we handle situations like this," Mr Mookhey told AAP on Friday.
Healthscope also contributed to building the hospital with the expectation it would get that money back through private patient care.
"So fair's fair in that respect," Mr Mookhey said.
Health Minister Ryan Park said the government was trying to clean up an "astronomical" mess created by a partnership it never supported.
"It has meant big impacts on services for families ... and we are determined as a government to do what we can to address this issue."
Healthscope operates 37 facilities across Australia. The federal government has ruled out footing the bill, but banks have stepped in to provide loans and assistance to receivers attempting to sell the business.
Any compensation paid for a hospital's early return to public hands will likely only acknowledge the collapsed private operator's investment rather than rewarding its failures.
Private equity-backed Healthscope's parent company appointed receivers in May, which the NSW government believes has opened the door to terminate a contract covering Sydney's beleaguered Northern Beaches Hospital.
The hospital was slated to remain privately operated until 2038.
Two-year-old Joe Massa died after he and his parents spent three hours waiting in the emergency department there in September, prompting the government to outlaw similar private-public partnerships in the future.
Treasurer Daniel Mookhey announced on Friday the government would amend a crossbencher's bill to provide a way out of the contract without activating provisions that could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars
Under the new provision, the final bill would be determined independently if an agreement could not be reached.
"Our preferred outcome is an agreed settlement and an agreed departure," Mr Mookhey told reporters on Friday.
"The northern beaches community deserves certainty around time, and equally the people of NSW need to know that we're not rewarding private equity and nor are we rewarding distressed debt buyers, who have turned up in the last four to five weeks with massive public cheques."
Healthscope chief executive Tino La Spina told AAP the company was not seeking any windfall gain in proposing to return the public hospital's operation in April.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman told reporters the government should reveal how much Healthscope is seeking.
"A contract has been signed and governments should honour those contracts, but we'll see what it is the government has proposed."
Before receivers were appointed, local MP Michael Regan introduced a bill in the NSW parliament providing a path to terminate the contract without paying compensation.
Terminating the contract without compensation could damage the state's reputation for future contracting and lead to potential drawn-out legal challenges that could delay a resolution.
"It is a consideration and we do want to demonstrate to people that we are very conscientious and we're very careful about how we handle situations like this," Mr Mookhey told AAP on Friday.
Healthscope also contributed to building the hospital with the expectation it would get that money back through private patient care.
"So fair's fair in that respect," Mr Mookhey said.
Health Minister Ryan Park said the government was trying to clean up an "astronomical" mess created by a partnership it never supported.
"It has meant big impacts on services for families ... and we are determined as a government to do what we can to address this issue."
Healthscope operates 37 facilities across Australia. The federal government has ruled out footing the bill, but banks have stepped in to provide loans and assistance to receivers attempting to sell the business.
Any compensation paid for a hospital's early return to public hands will likely only acknowledge the collapsed private operator's investment rather than rewarding its failures.
Private equity-backed Healthscope's parent company appointed receivers in May, which the NSW government believes has opened the door to terminate a contract covering Sydney's beleaguered Northern Beaches Hospital.
The hospital was slated to remain privately operated until 2038.
Two-year-old Joe Massa died after he and his parents spent three hours waiting in the emergency department there in September, prompting the government to outlaw similar private-public partnerships in the future.
Treasurer Daniel Mookhey announced on Friday the government would amend a crossbencher's bill to provide a way out of the contract without activating provisions that could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars
Under the new provision, the final bill would be determined independently if an agreement could not be reached.
"Our preferred outcome is an agreed settlement and an agreed departure," Mr Mookhey told reporters on Friday.
"The northern beaches community deserves certainty around time, and equally the people of NSW need to know that we're not rewarding private equity and nor are we rewarding distressed debt buyers, who have turned up in the last four to five weeks with massive public cheques."
Healthscope chief executive Tino La Spina told AAP the company was not seeking any windfall gain in proposing to return the public hospital's operation in April.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman told reporters the government should reveal how much Healthscope is seeking.
"A contract has been signed and governments should honour those contracts, but we'll see what it is the government has proposed."
Before receivers were appointed, local MP Michael Regan introduced a bill in the NSW parliament providing a path to terminate the contract without paying compensation.
Terminating the contract without compensation could damage the state's reputation for future contracting and lead to potential drawn-out legal challenges that could delay a resolution.
"It is a consideration and we do want to demonstrate to people that we are very conscientious and we're very careful about how we handle situations like this," Mr Mookhey told AAP on Friday.
Healthscope also contributed to building the hospital with the expectation it would get that money back through private patient care.
"So fair's fair in that respect," Mr Mookhey said.
Health Minister Ryan Park said the government was trying to clean up an "astronomical" mess created by a partnership it never supported.
"It has meant big impacts on services for families ... and we are determined as a government to do what we can to address this issue."
Healthscope operates 37 facilities across Australia. The federal government has ruled out footing the bill, but banks have stepped in to provide loans and assistance to receivers attempting to sell the business.
Any compensation paid for a hospital's early return to public hands will likely only acknowledge the collapsed private operator's investment rather than rewarding its failures.
Private equity-backed Healthscope's parent company appointed receivers in May, which the NSW government believes has opened the door to terminate a contract covering Sydney's beleaguered Northern Beaches Hospital.
The hospital was slated to remain privately operated until 2038.
Two-year-old Joe Massa died after he and his parents spent three hours waiting in the emergency department there in September, prompting the government to outlaw similar private-public partnerships in the future.
Treasurer Daniel Mookhey announced on Friday the government would amend a crossbencher's bill to provide a way out of the contract without activating provisions that could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars
Under the new provision, the final bill would be determined independently if an agreement could not be reached.
"Our preferred outcome is an agreed settlement and an agreed departure," Mr Mookhey told reporters on Friday.
"The northern beaches community deserves certainty around time, and equally the people of NSW need to know that we're not rewarding private equity and nor are we rewarding distressed debt buyers, who have turned up in the last four to five weeks with massive public cheques."
Healthscope chief executive Tino La Spina told AAP the company was not seeking any windfall gain in proposing to return the public hospital's operation in April.
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman told reporters the government should reveal how much Healthscope is seeking.
"A contract has been signed and governments should honour those contracts, but we'll see what it is the government has proposed."
Before receivers were appointed, local MP Michael Regan introduced a bill in the NSW parliament providing a path to terminate the contract without paying compensation.
Terminating the contract without compensation could damage the state's reputation for future contracting and lead to potential drawn-out legal challenges that could delay a resolution.
"It is a consideration and we do want to demonstrate to people that we are very conscientious and we're very careful about how we handle situations like this," Mr Mookhey told AAP on Friday.
Healthscope also contributed to building the hospital with the expectation it would get that money back through private patient care.
"So fair's fair in that respect," Mr Mookhey said.
Health Minister Ryan Park said the government was trying to clean up an "astronomical" mess created by a partnership it never supported.
"It has meant big impacts on services for families ... and we are determined as a government to do what we can to address this issue."
Healthscope operates 37 facilities across Australia. The federal government has ruled out footing the bill, but banks have stepped in to provide loans and assistance to receivers attempting to sell the business.
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