HOSPITAL TO CHASE BUSINESS FOR FUNDS

A Newcastle public hospital said yesterday that it had been forced to seek
private-sector partners to overcome a bed and funding shortage, in a move
branded by staff as the privatisation of health services.

The announcement came as doctors, nurses and ancillary staff at the Mater
Misericordiae Hospital launched a campaign advising "that we are no longer
able to provide the level of care needed by the Newcastle and Hunter
community".

The hospital, owned by the Sisters of Mercy and operated as a public
facility with $50 million annual funding from the State Government, is the
main provider of medical drug and alcohol detoxification services, cancer
treatment and palliative care for a population of 500,000 people.

The hospital's general manager, Mr Colin Osborne, said the Mater had some of
the "poorest hospital stock" in the State and the nuns and staff were
equally frustrated that it would be five to eight years before any State
funding was available for a "desperately needed" $70 million redevelopment.

"The hospital can't wait any longer for public funds," he said.

The Minister for Health, Mr Knowles, said the Mater was "privately owned"
and "privately managed", like other church-run hospitals providing public
services, such as Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital.

"It's been the sisters that have initiated to seek a private partner," he
said.

"If they change their mind and choose to seek public funding they are
welcome to make a submission to the Government."

A spokesman for Mr Knowles denied the move was effective privatisation,
because the buildings and land were owned by the Sisters of Mercy. The
hospital was under contract to the Hunter Area Health Service to provide
public hospital services.

The previous Coalition government approved NSW's only privatised hospitals -
Port Macquarie Base Hospital and the Hawkesbury District Health Service.

Mr Osborne said the Mater would seek a "for profit" or "not for profit"
partner to redevelop and operate the hospital, which would increase bed
numbers and may also include a new private hospital on the campus.

The Hunter Area Health Service has also listed as its preferred option the
closure of Royal Newcastle Hospital.

However, no decision has been made by the Carr Government.

The secretary of the Mater's medical staff council, Dr Peter O'Brien, said
staff would not rule out industrial action over cuts of $1.5 million to
clinical services, a reduction in bed numbers to 121 (down from more than
200 in 1993) and the closure of detoxification beds in the past two months
for all but emergency overdose cases.

"The admissions ward is like something out of Victorian England. Patients
are so close together you can't pull a curtain around to ensure privacy," Dr
O'Brien said.

The Nurses' Association representative, Ms Deb Malcolm, said the move was
being described as "seeking private sector interest" but no guarantees had
been given that public bed numbers would be maintained.

"It is privatisation because the hospital will be put out for private
tender, the operator will be committed to rebuilding it and will contract
out public services," she said.

"The Mater runs completely as a public hospital. It provides services not
provided elsewhere in the Hunter."