St Vincent’s Private Hospital has formally confirmed it will not be selling, moving or relocating -in favour of a major investment and renewal at the existing historic site.

CEO, Alan Cooper says the regional private health care facility is well advanced with a company transformation covering both physical assets and internal culture.

“Our plans for sale of the hospital are on hold. Our focus is on delivering outstanding care, ensuring an excellent patient experience, and offering rewarding careers for our staff,” he said.

Nearly two years after the move to a new site opposite the Lismore Base Hospital were revealed, Mr Cooper says obtaining private investment necessary proved to be the major hurdle.

While moving closer to the public hospital offered some advantages, Mr Cooper says there’s definite pluses in staying where they are.

“I’ve found that in a lot of cases, the public sector is in competition with the private,” he said.

“Even though there are synergies to be found in working closely, sometimes it’s better to have a distinct separation.”

The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards recently awarded St Vincent’s a perfect score in its review—something both the CEO and staff are proud of.

“I believed it would be better to clean up this site, focus on revenue, and concentrate heavily on culture -working with our people to build their skills and competencies,” Mr Cooper said.

Patients and their families are already noticing the physical transformation of buildings with phase one of renovations, involving a refurb of public spaces and the outside of the major Dalley Street complex (block B) now complete.

Phase Two, involving an upgrade of wards and rooms is now underway, while next year renovations will begin on Avondale Avenue complex (block A).

“We’ve done a lot of work in a very short period. We’re getting some really good runs on the board. It’s been quite exciting.”

“Our efforts have increased the hospital’s perceived value both internally and within the broader health sector—particularly at a time when the private system is under pressure.

“Medical insurers remain cautious about funding increases, which affects hospital growth even if patient care remains stable,” Mr Cooper said.

“Indexation”—the system by which hospitals are compensated by insurers—has left St Vincent’s lagging behind in recent years. However, the CEO says recent improvements are helping to reverse that trend.

“Additional business strategies are also being implemented to boost performance, including a renewed focus on urgent admissions,” he said.

“This isn’t a replacement for emergency care. But if a GP advises a patient to go to hospital, one phone call allows them to be directly admitted to St Vincent’s, using their private health insurance as intended.

“Jennifer Prosser, our new Clinical Care Manager, arranges direct admissions to specialists.

“In turn, this alleviates some of the pressure and wait times at Lismore Base Hospital’s emergency department.”

It’s these kinds of targeted, community-focused solutions that Mr Cooper believes will build trust in private care.

“St Vincent’s Hospital Lismore is very much in the business of providing continuity of care to our wonderful Northern Rivers community.”

This new vision for the hospital has also put on hold previous plans to convert the hospital into an aged care facility.

However expanding aged care remains a long-term plan, referencing St Joseph’s Nursing Home, Mary’s Grange, as part of that vision.

“They’re both under my charge, and we’ve been looking at what we can do in the short term. At the present moment, though, our focus is firmly on the hospital,” Mr Cooper said.

Unless mentioned, all images supplied by St Vincent’s Hospital