The company has confirmed that hospital operations will remain unaffected, and there will be no immediate impact on patients or staff.
Healthscope, Australia’s second-largest private hospital operator, has been placed into receivership by its lenders, with corporate restructuring firm McGrathNicol appointed to oversee the process.
The embattled healthcare group, owned by North American private equity firm Brookfield, has struggled under the weight of $1.6 billion in debt and has defaulted on several lease payments.
Despite the financial upheaval, the company has confirmed that hospital operations will remain unaffected, and there will be no immediate impact on patients or staff.
Healthscope runs hospitals across every state and territory and holds the contract to operate Northern Beaches Hospital in Sydney.
Around 650,000 Australians receive treatment through its facilities each year, supported by roughly 19,000 medical and support staff.
$100 Million in Extra Funding to Support Operations
To ensure continuity of care, the Commonwealth Bank has extended a $100 million loan facility to keep Healthscope’s 37 hospitals running while a sale process is underway.
The company said its day-to-day operations—separate from the parent entities now in receivership—will continue under the current leadership team, headed by CEO Tino La Spina.
Related Stories
“Today’s appointment of receivers, including the additional funding, ensures a stable path to a sale, with no impacts on any hospitals, staff or patients,” La Spina said.
The company also revealed it currently holds $110 million in cash reserves.
Federal Government Monitoring Transition
Health Minister Mark Butler responded saying the development was expected.
KordaMentha, an advisory and investment firm, has been appointed as administrator to represent the owners’ interests during the sale process.
“This decision to place the ownership of Healthscope into receivership is not unexpected. We’ve been meeting as the government with Healthscope now for some considerable time,” Butler said.
He emphasised that protecting staff and patient interests would be the government’s top priority.
“I want to be clear that I expect to see an orderly sale process eventuate from this decision to a new owner with no impact on patients and no impact on hard working staff,” Butler said.
“I had a conversation over the last half an hour with the CEO Tino La Spina, and I sought an assurance from him that the thousands of Australians who right now have a birth plan or a knee reconstruction booked at a Healthscope hospital can be confident that that procedure will go ahead as planned and as booked, and I receive that assurance from the Healthscope CEO.”
