Canberra's Catholic archdiocese says it is dismayed and disappointed by the ACT government's decision to take over the Catholic-owned Calvary Public Hospital.
The government announced controversial plans yesterday to acquire the hospital in Canberra's north.
It also said it would begin to build a new hospital as early as 2025 at the site in Bruce, and would allocate more than $1 billion to the project.
The local archbishop, Christopher Prowse, met with Calvary Healthcare leaders today.
His vicar-general, Richard Thompson, said the news had surprised the archbishop.
"The archbishop or the archdiocese has not been consulted in any way, as I understand it," he said.
"It opens up the question for us — does that now mean that all institutions in the ACT [are] now potentially open for a government acquisition?"
A parish priest in Queanbeyan, Tony Percy, said Calvary was in shock, having last heard from government negotiators in November last year.
"No one likes to be dispossessed of their land or property without consultation," he said.
Father Percy also referred to widely reported concerns about the government-run Canberra Hospital's culture and staff management.
"They've got great trouble running their own public hospital at the moment," he said.
"Why would you have confidence in them running another public hospital?"
Past attempts to negotiate transfer
The government and Calvary Health Care began talks about the hospital's future in May last year but were unable to reach an agreement.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith tabled laws today to compulsorily acquire the site, as well as the hospital's assets, and transfer Calvary staff to Canberra Health Services (CHS).
In 2010, the government proposed buying the hospital for $77 million, but the hospital's owner, the Little Company of Mary Health Care, pulled out because it needed approval from the Vatican, which would have taken too long.
Ms Stephen-Smith said yesterday a team would begin transferring hospital care from Calvary Health Care to CHS at the start of July, and staff would remain in their current roles.
'A good decision': Medical group
Walter Abheyeratna, the ACT president of the Australian Medical Association, told ABC radio the decision was good for Canberra hospital patients.
"There's no doubt that Calvary Health Care's done an incredible job over the decades, but the complexity of having the public health system being governed by a different organisation threw a lot of spanners in the works,
Professor Abheyeratna said it was important to deliver public healthcare services without being bound by ideology.
"This now gives us an opportunity to design a healthcare system in an efficient way," he said.
"And really moving into the future, it's not all about hospitals, it's really important that we have the community services linked with the hospitals."
Calvary staff were invited to a town hall-style meeting today to ask questions about the acquisition.
Outstanding disputes
A union that represents doctors, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation, said many of its members were distressed by the takeover news.
The federation's ACT executive officer Steve Ross said some members had chosen to move away from CHS to work for Calvary.
"Some members have worked previously for the ACT government at CHS and have had bad experiences there, and are concerned about the implications for them and returning," he said.
"Some have recently returned to Canberra to work specifically at Calvary — they're concerned that they've made major changes in their lives already.
"So a lot of complex issues to work through."
Mr Ross also questioned CHS's capacity to smoothly transition Calvary into CHS, saying the union already had several outstanding disputes with CHS.
"The overlay of a transfer from Calvary to the ACT government of an entire public hospital has many varied complex issues," he said.
"And ultimately if it's not done well then there will be an impact on the people that use the service."
Ms Stephen-Smith acknowledged yesterday the transition might be stressful for staff.
"We know this will be a stressful time for Calvary staff and we are committed to supporting them through this transition and providing as much certainty as possible," she said.
"The vast majority of staff will continue doing the jobs they do today with their current teams."
