Canberra Health Services claims it tried, unsuccessfully, to negotiate with Calvary last year about transferring the Calvary Public Hospital site in Bruce to the ACT Government and setting up a new, modern services agreement.

• Calvary takeover bill introduced to ACT Assembly (11 May 2023)

ACT health minister Rachel Stephen-Smith wrote to Calvary in April 2022 to formally request negotiations, and advised Calvary the ACT Government had decided “to explore the option of utilising either existing or new special legislation” to transfer land to the ACT Government.

Calvary national CEO Martin Bowles, however, said: “Calvary was absolutely committed to the remaining 76 years of our contract in the ACT.

“To date, Calvary has been an active participant in discussions with the ACT Government, including being committed to operating the new hospital. We reject the Chief Minister’s position that Calvary’s proposal presents the delivery of a publicly owned hospital that provides an accessible, accountable, and sustainable health system in the Territory.”

Jeremy Hanson was sceptical of the government’s claim that negotiations had broken down and failed. “Calvary are on the record saying that that’s not the case. … If we were to have an inquiry, it would be pretty clear that [the government explanation] is disputable.

“We’ll, I guess, never know, because the government’s trying to shut down the democratic process and ram the legislation through.”

Mr Hanson said Rachel Stephen-Smith and Chief Minister Andrew Barr had forcibly acquired the hospital – an act of “outrageous thuggery” – “in secret with no consultation”.

He demanded to know how much the takeover would cost. “There is a contract in place that was signed by the current operator in 2011 with 76 years still to run,” he said. “The payout of this will run into hundreds of millions of dollars for Canberra taxpayers.”

He is also concerned about the implications of the government’s takeover.

“What it says is: if you’ve got a contract with the ACT Government – watch out. Nothing’s secure. This was only renegotiated in 2011; it’s a 76-year contract, with an organisation that even the ACT Government has to accept has been a good partner, that has run a good health system. No one’s disputing that.” But the government were “prepared to rip up” that contract. “Who’s next?”

Shadow health minister Leanne Castley added: “How can anyone trust doing business with this government when they have been developing secret legislation that obliterates a major provider of public services in the ACT, and enacts it with no notice?”

Staff were not consulted

Calvary staff would be invited to transition to Canberra Health Services, the health minister said – but staff report they were not told about the takeover, and only found out through the media.

“We know that staff will find this period unsettling, and some people will be worried about their jobs,” Ms Stephen-Smith said.

“Our clear aim is that staff will be able to keep doing the same job, with the same team, in a public hospital that respects the care they provide every day to patients and to each other …

“We will respect that the public hospital at Bruce needs to remain ‘large enough to deliver, small enough to care’. Canberra Health Services understands that Calvary Public Hospital has its own culture and ways of doing things. Our aim is to minimise disruption for staff and patients to the greatest possible extent.”

But Calvary maintains that the 1,800 employees at Calvary Public Hospital Bruce were not consulted “at all about the potential ramifications of this decision”.

“Unsurprisingly, this announcement is distressing for them,” Mr Bowles said. “We will support them through the next steps, and aid their understanding of the options available to them.”

Ms Castley said Ms Stephen-Smith must explain why the acquisition was kept secret from Calvary staff, and when Calvary was alerted about this “draconian step to force them to sell”.

Staff will begin transitioning on 31 May, before the acquisition on 3 July. Ms Stephen-Smith claims the “relatively short” transition period was chosen “to minimise the uncertainty for staff”.

“There are staff in tears, and the government had the audacity to say we’re doing this so it’s not hurtful for staff,” Jeremy Hanson retorted.

“We’ve received a lot of correspondence from staff. … They are feeling bruised by what’s happened; they’ll want to have their say; they want to understand what’s going on; and for the government to say they’re doing this because they’re on the side of the staff at Calvary is outrageous.”

He believes the short time was chosen so the bill could be passed without time for an inquiry.

“For the government to hide behind staff welfare as an excuse to push this legislation through as quickly as possible is disingenuous and shameful,” Mr Hanson said.