Calvary Public Hospital offered the ACT Government four hectares on which to build a new facility before negotiations over the forced takeover broke down, correspondence between the parties reveals. Source: The Australian.
Calvary Health Care chief executive Martin Bowles wrote to ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith saying he was “surprised” by the request to acquire the Bruce site and made a counter offer to hand over four hectares or to build a new hospital in Canberra’s north “faster and cheaper”, which it would run for a 25-year term, court documents show.
Mr Bowles also acknowledged that Calvary’s relationship with the ACT Government had been complex but they had “always found a way to work through any of these complexities, in our collective commitment to providing the best possible services to the community of the ACT”.
“The land you requested is far more than what has been discussed or foreshadowed in the extensive meetings which have occurred between our teams and more than what is required for the new public hospital and expansion space,” Mr Bowles wrote in the letter dated November 28.
The ACT Supreme Court released hundreds of pages of documents, including letters and emails between the ACT Government and Calvary Health Care, revealing new details of the breakdown in negotiations, as the full bench considers a legal bid from the Catholic health provider to halt the forced acquisition of the hospital site.
Calvary Hospital had previously said negotiations with the ACT Government had failed after months of trying to reach an agreement, with last month’s announcement that the Government was taking over the site leaving Church leaders “stunned and shocked”.
A decision in the ACT Supreme Court case is due by July 13.
FULL STORY
Calvary Hospital offered 4 hectares, new hospital before negotiations broke down (By Rhiannon Down, The Australian)
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