The state government has again indicated that the new Lower Hunter hospital to be built a Metford will be a public-private project, with Health Minister Jillian Skinner confirming it would treat both public and private patients.
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Mrs Skinner told a budget estimates hearing that details of the clinical services planning for the new site and the existing Maitland Hospital would be finished “towards the end of this year” but cautioned “do not hold me to an exact date”.
“Will all services that are provided at the new hospital be available to public hospital patients as well as private hospital patients?” Labor MP Courtney Houssos asked.
“Yes,” Mrs Skinner replied, before adding the government had not determined the funding model for the project.
However, documents tabled to State Parliament last year showed the government has been discussing the project with companies that provide consultancy, project delivery and design advice, including for public-private partnerships.
Mrs Skinner told the hearing such a model was “the norm”.
“Hospitals like the Mater, like St Vincent’s, like Hawkesbury, and like the new Northern Beaches Hospital we will be building all have services that are available to public patients as they are to private patients,” she said.
The Northern Beaches project will be privately built and run, but will cater to both public and private patients.