Calvary calls on ACT government to continue negotiations over Bruce public hospital

The organisation is considering its legal options in relation to the acquisition but is pursuing further negotiations with the government.

Calvary has indicated it would consider options around both continuing to provide services at the hospital or around compensation.

The ACT government and Calvary were locked in negotiations last year around what role the organisation would play in a future hospital for Canberra's north.

Negotiations were brought to a halt over disagreement around the length of a services agreement between Calvary and the ACT government.

The current agreement between Calvary and the government has 76 years remaining but the government wanted a new 25-year agreement.

Legislation is expected to pass the territory's parliament next week and the hospital will be officially taken over by Canberra Health Services on July 3.

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Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith met with Calvary national chief executive Martin Bowles last Thursday and Calvary said it did not receive any meaningful options for resolving negotiations.

"We remain hopeful the ACT government will give this matter appropriate consideration and provide options beyond the legislation. Our people deserve this," Mr Bowles said.

"This legislation could be enacted as early as next Wednesday, and yet we seem to be at an impasse with the ACT government choosing to double down on its proposed legislation filled with draconian measures.

"Calvary has 76 years left on our contract, which is part of our long-term business planning and the ACT government cannot simply take that away from our overall business without impacting our services more broadly."

Ms Stephen-Smith said earlier on Tuesday the government was unable to reach an agreement with Calvary and it was an urgent matter for the government so it could start planning for a new $1 billion hospital.

"We couldn't reach that agreement with Calvary after months of negotiations we were still a long way apart and we didn't believe that further negotiations were ever going to get us to a point where we could actually agree," she said.

The call from Calvary to continue negotiations followed a similar call from Canberra and Goulburn Archbishop Christopher Prowse, who last week said he wanted to restart negotiations.

Ms Stephen-Smith met with Archbishop Prowse on Tuesday. She described the meeting as "cordial". She said she told the Archbishop the decision to acquire Calvary was not due to religious reasons.

"We're now in a position where that hospital is coming to the end of life and the ACT government is going to invest more than $1 billion and we haven't been able to reach agreement with Calvary national and Little Company of Mary around what that could look like doing it together into the future as a partnership," she said.

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