Lismore Private Hospital, a component of the Owen Ferguson Health (OFH) group, will close in the next few days. The hospital’s parent company, OFH, was placed in Receivership on Wednesday (24/2/2010).
The facility is likely to close its doors on Monday. Patients and staff were told of the pending closure today. Steps have been taken to ensure inhouse patients are transferred to suitable alternative facilities.
Receiver and manager of the group, Ferrier Hodgson partner Morgan Kelly, said the closure was regrettable but unavoidable due to the company’s financial situation.
“Our number one priority in this Receivership has been the safety and health of the patients, and it is clear that it is in the best interests of the patients to move them out of this facility,” Mr Kelly said. “Through a collaborative effort between doctors, families and ourselves we have been able to find suitable alternative facilities for all patients who had been staying here. We are acutely aware of how difficult this is for patients, families and staff and have worked to find the least disruptive solution.”
Mr Kelly said that the hospital’s closure had come about through a combination of undercapitalisation and poor management.
He said he is continuing the assessment of the viability of other hospitals in the OFH group.
Mr Kelly, James Stewart and Peter Walker were appointed Receivers and Managers of OFH on 24/2/2010. OFH owns and manages three small private hospitals in suburban and regional Australia: Pioneer Valley Private Hospital, Mackay, Queensland; Cliveden Hill Private Hospital, East Melbourne, Victoria; Lismore Private Hospital, Lismore, NSW.
ENDS