November 30, 2015
A decision on whether the South Burnett Regional Council will take over running the South Burnett Private Hospital has been postponed until January after a potential new operator emerged last week.
Mayor Wayne Kratzmann said he was advised of an interested party a few days ago, and met with the operators in Brisbane on Friday.
He has accepted their offer to visit Kingaroy and tour the hospital facility in the near future.
Because of this eleventh-hour development, the Council will not make a decision on the hospital’s future until further discussions have been held with the operators about their interest in running the hospital.
“It is certainly Council’s preferred option to have a major player in the health field to run the South Burnett Private Hospital,” the Mayor said.
“Over the last six months I have been working to find a company to take over the management of the hospital.
“I refuse to give up, and while there is some interest I will continue to do everything I can to see it come to fruition.”
A due diligence report on the hospital from consultants Ernst & Young has also been received, and has been distributed to Councillors and senior staff for their perusal and input.
A vote on the report and the future of the facility had been expected at next Wednesday’s Council meeting.
A decision is now likely to occur at the Council’s first new year meeting on January 13.
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Tonight Mayor Wayne Kratzmann confirmed to southburnett.com.au that the operator was not one he had previously approached.
The mayor also confirmed Ernst & Young’s report has suggested the hospital would be profitable if it could achieve an average 50 per cent bed occupancy rate.
The hospital had achieved a rate of up to 70 per cent average occupancy for many years, but in recent years this had dwindled to 25 per cent.
The Ernst and Young report will be part of an information kit supplied to the potential new operator when discussions take place.
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