St John of God Health Care is on the way to becoming Western Australia’s largest private hospital group, despite rival operator Ramsay Health Care recently starting another expansion of its own.
St John of God currently has 1,566 licensed beds in the state, with the total boosted by its purchase of the 244-bed Mercy Hospital in Mount Lawley, which was completed last week.
The not-for-profit operator is also continuing with the $234 million expansion of its Murdoch hospital, and the $430 million construction of the Midland Public and Private Hospitals.
The Midland project reached a milestone in March when it hit the 50-per cent completion mark, and is on target for a late-2015 opening.
At completion of the Murdoch and Midland developments, St John of God will own or run hospitals with 2,098 licensed beds.
The development of a 120-bed private hospital in Mandurah is another possibility the group has been pursuing.
Ramsay Health Care’s latest development is a $74 million expansion of Hollywood Private Hospital, to make it the state’s largest private hospital.
The expansion commenced in January and is due to be completed in late 2015.
It includes six more operating theatres, two new 30-bed wards, and a new kitchen.
The hospital is also expanding its multi-storey car park to include another level.
Upon completion, Hollywood will have 720 beds, making it larger than Ramsay’s Joondalup Health Campus, with 664 beds.
The government-owned Royal Perth Hospital remains the state’s largest hospital with 833 beds, according to Business News’ updated Book of Lists [see Hospitals list], but the ranking is set for big changes.
Fiona Stanley Hospital is due to start operations in October, after delays with its IT systems pushed back the opening date.
The phased opening of Fiona Stanley, which will have nearly 800 beds when fully operational, will lead to a downsizing of Royal Perth Hospital.
Many services and staff from RPH will effectively be transferred to Fiona Stanley, in line with the strategy articulated nearly a decade ago by the Reid review of the health system.
However, it’s not clear exactly how many staff and services will be affected.
The Barnett government plans to retain the state’s major adult trauma centre at Royal Perth to take advantage of the hospital’s existing facilities, while Labor has vowed to maintain Royal Perth as a major tertiary public hospital.
Another change flowing from the opening of Fiona Stanley will be the closure of the 75-bed Kaleeya Hospital in November this year.
Its services will be split between Fiona Stanley and Fremantle hospitals.
A major development next year will be the opening of the $1.2 billion Perth Children’s Hospital, due to take place in late 2015.
The capacity of the hospital is being expanded from 274 beds to 298 beds, after concerns the facility would not be adequate to cater for Perth’s growing population.
It will have 48 more beds than Princess Margaret Hospital, which it replaces.
Meanwhile, private equity-backed Healthscope, which counts Perth’s Mount Hospital among its large portfolio, is believed to be planning a $4 billion IPO.
