Healthscope, NSW Ink $190m Northern Beaches Deal

An end is in sight for the woes of at least one of the Healthscope private hospitals as the NSW Government signs an in-principle agreement to re-nationalise the 494-bed Northern Beaches Hospital.

The deal, valued at $190 million, would bring the largest hospital in the beleaguered Healthscope portfolio back into public ownership by mid-2026, the Minns Government said. The Government also retains the option to unilaterally terminate Healthscope’s ownership if a deal is not concluded on fair and reasonable terms.

All current staff would be offered jobs under the new regime, with entitlements transferred to the public system. The emergency department will continue operating at Level 5, handling all but the most complex cases.

Details of the final contract are still being hammered out, but health minister Ryan Park told Parliament that negotiations with clinical staff about the continuation of private elective surgery were ongoing. 

NSW Premier Chris Minns said the former Liberal government’s decision to outsource services to Healthscope was “one of the worst decisions of any NSW government, where a private hospital model was foisted on the people of the Northern Beaches”.

“Our state’s acute hospital services that provide lifesaving care to the people of New South Wales should not be privatised and thanks to this decision, no hospital in NSW will be,” Minns said.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said that the deal “represents strong value for money and was an excellent result for the community”.

“The Government has been clear all along that there will be no windfall gains for Healthscope or its investors at the expense of NSW taxpayers. This deal makes good on that commitment,” Mookhey said.

Wakehurst MP Michael Regan said that the re-acquisition was “a momentous day for the Northern Beaches and a win for our community. The situation at the Northern Beaches Hospital was unsustainable”.

“I want to see the best aspects of the current Northern Beaches Hospital maintained, including private services, while the parts that have been squeezed under the privatised model are properly resourced,” Regan said.

Long history of struggles for Healthscope

The Northern Beaches Hospital was completed in 2018 at a construction and infrastructure cost of about $1 billion under a government-Healthscope consortium. The nearby Manly Hospital was closed and Mona Vale Hospital downgraded as part of a planned transition of services that year.

Canadian private equity firm Brookfield acquired Healthscope in 2019. The hospital operator was placed into receivership in May 2025 owing more than $1.6 billion to creditors. Multiple rescue plans have since been floated by administrators and others, including transitioning to charity status.

Service provision at the hospital has been criticised throughout its lifespan, with the death of two-year-old Joe Massa in 2024 a particular catalyst for re-acquisition, even before Healthscope went into receivership.

Joe’s parents also campaigned for the passage of a Bill that prevents future private-public partnerships at acute care hospitals.

A report by the auditor-general this year found that the privatisation model used did not allow for integration with the public health system, and created tension between profit motives and health outcomes.