The debate on the bill to compulsorily acquire the site of Calvary Public Hospital Bruce will take place tomorrow morning.
Calvary has said it will be forced to take legal action if debate on the Bill is not adjourned “to make room for genuine discourse”.
“Calvary continues to be frustrated by the ACT Government’s delays to consider any meaningful options for resolving the negotiations since introduction of its Health Infrastructure Enabling Bill 2023 in the ACT Legislative Assembly on 11 May, and has now been forced to take this step,” Calvary National CEO Martin Bowles said.
Last week, Mr Bowles said that Calvary was considering going to law against the ACT Government. The organisation was pursuing genuine negotiations with the government, but, despite meeting health minister Rachel Stephen-Smith, he had not received any meaningful options for resolving the negotiations, including retained service delivery or compensation.
“This legislation could be enacted as early as next Wednesday [31 May], and yet we seem to be at an impasse with the ACT Government choosing to double down on its proposed legislation filled with draconian measures,” Mr Bowles said then.
Ms Stephen-Smith introduced the Health Infrastructure Enabling Bill last month. Through it, the ACT Government will terminate Calvary Health Care ACT’s leasehold on the public hospital site, which was due to expire in 2098; the ACT Government will retain the land as unleased Territory land. The Bill would determine “just terms” to acquire the land, Ms Stephen-Smith said.
The government will also terminate the Calvary Network Agreement (the ACT Government’s agreement with Calvary, signed in 2011), which had 76 years to run, and transition Calvary Public Hospital Bruce employees, assets, and services to the ACT on 3 July. Hospital staff will begin transferring from Calvary to Canberra Health Services tomorrow.
Ms Stephen-Smith claims that “a single health network is the best option for the territory”.
- Calvary takeover bill introduced to ACT Assembly (11 May)
- ACT government claims Calvary negotiations failed (11 May)
“Our review of the proposed legislation and associated regulation indicates that just terms are simply not available, and outside of this, there is no indication that commercial terms are available to resolve this matter,” Mr Bowles said today.
“All we have is an announcement and an imposed unrealistic timeline that has distressed our people and could ultimately put clinical safety at risk …
“A legal challenge to the ACT Government’s proposed acquisition of Calvary Public Hospital Bruce is the only response left available if there is no agreement to have the debate on the Bill adjourned…”
“The announcement from Calvary Health Care does not change our plans to debate and pass legislation tomorrow,” Ms Stephen-Smith said. “We are confident that the legislation will stand up to legal challenge as it clearly provides for this acquisition to be made on just terms.
“From our perspective, any legal challenge is a separate matter and will be responded to in parallel with the transition. The ACT Government will continue to prioritise, and expects that Calvary will also prioritise, continuity of quality safe patient care during the transition.”
Protest outside Legislative Assembly tomorrow morning
A protest will also be held outside the Legislative Assembly, in Civic Square, from 10am on Wednesday 31 May.
Canberra Liberals MLA Mark Parton encouraged the public to come to the protest.
“The hostile takeover by this Labor-Greens government is outrageous,” he said on Facebook. “So many people have contacted me to say: is there anything I can do? The answer is: Yes, there is…
“If you’re outraged by the hostile takeover of Calvary, for whatever reason, come and join the crowd here.”
The Liberals maintain that the “dictatorial” ACT Government tried to stifle debate on the bill. When Ms Stephen-Smith introduced the bill, Labor and Green MLAs agreed to debate it before any committee inquiry or report (except for the Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety in its legislative scrutiny role).
In making sure any committee could not report before the Assembly debate on the legislation, Canberra Liberals deputy leader Jeremy Hanson said at the time, the ACT Government had “trampled over democratic processes in order to ram through legislation for a forced takeover”.
Calvary nurses and doctors condemn takeover
Reportedly, Calvary was not notified about the takeover, and many of the hospital’s staff only learnt about the takeover through the media.
Ms Stephen-Smith said she warned Calvary in April 2022 that it would consider legislation to acquire the land needed to build a new hospital, if the two parties could not reach an agreement. But Mr Bowles said Calvary had received no correspondence from the ACT Government since November, until the government advised him, two days before its public announcement, that they would introduce a bill in the Legislative Assembly “to effectively circumvent commercial negotiations and achieve by way of legislation the outcome they wanted”.
A fortnight ago, senior doctors at Calvary Public Hospital told the Australian Medical Association (AMA) ACT they were shocked, dismayed, and angered the ACT Government did not consult them about the compulsory acquisition.
On Saturday, senior nurses published an open letter to Ms Stephen-Smith. “The way in which this has been done reflects poorly on the highest levels of leadership within the territory,” the nurses said. “To allow the majority of Calvary’s 1,800 staff to find out about this via social media was absolutely disgraceful …
“The arrogance of making and releasing YouTube videos and transition websites by CHS prior to this decision even going to the legislative assembly makes an absolute mockery of democratic process and was so disrespectful to the staff of Calvary Public Hospital. The subsequent misinformation and mixed messages that have ensued following the announcement, fed by the inability to present staff with a clear and transparent plan for what this all means, is incredibly unfair.”
Calvary must remain separate, and workplace culture must be maintained
Staff at Calvary are concerned that the acquisition will worsen the hospital’s workplace culture.
“Culture has supposedly been high on the public hospital agenda since the 2019 culture review, and in one surprise announcement, all the work that has been done in this space since that report was issued has been undermined,” the nurses said. “It has certainly convinced us that the culture of CHS – described as toxic, even by its own employees – is a direct reflection of the values and behaviours that stems all the way to the top, and that the culture review was nothing but a box-ticking exercise.”
Similarly, the senior doctors told the AMA this week that Calvary’s workplace culture must be maintained, and that the hospital must stand apart from Canberra Hospital and be recognised as a separate entity.
“Senior doctors do not want the Canberra Hospital culture imposed on them,” Professor Walter Abhayaratna, president of the AMA ACT, said. “[They] feel … a strong affiliation … for their hospital.
“The senior doctors want to defend and preserve the workplace culture in Calvary. They’re not against collaboration, but they don’t want structures simply imposed on them.”
Professor Abhayaratna wrote to Ms Stephen-Smith today urging her to sort out the governance of Calvary, as part of the proposed organisational integration with Canberra Health Services, as a matter of priority.
“While some progress has been made with the ACT Government in ensuring that any transition to Canberra Health Services is done sensitively and fairly, the Calvary senior medical staff remain wary of the government’s plans for the hospital,” Professor Abhayaratna said today.
“The trust deficit is significant, and the ACT Government will need to work hard to bridge the gap.”
Ms Stephen-Smith said: “What we want to do is pass this legislation so that we can sit down and consult with the staff about exactly how this transition is going to work.
“We’ve been at pains to reassure those staff that they will have, from the second of July to the third of July to the Fourth of July, the same job in the same team on the same pay and conditions in the hospital whose culture is built by them. It is their hospital and their culture. And we absolutely want to retain that.
“Our consistent message from the day that we made this announcement is that we respect and understand that Calvary Hospital Bruce operates in a different way and has its own culture. We want the hospital to be managed in its own right, within the bigger umbrella of Canberra health services.”
Rachel Stephen-Smith: Calvary should work with ACT Government
Ms Stephen-Smith told Calvary’s national office team to “think about the staff and consumers in the ACT and the need to provide certainty and a smooth transition.
“Our hope is that Calvary will work with us throughout the transition period to ensure continuity of services for staff and patients.
“I understand staff at Calvary Public Hospital Bruce may be feeling uncertain and overwhelmed. After the legislation has passed, the ACT Government will begin working to provide staff with as much information, advice, and support as possible.
“We have already heard that many staff are keen to engage actively in the transition process, and we hope Calvary will not seek to put barriers in the way of this.”
