The last large-scale private mental health hospital in Tasmania’s south has reopened after a 17-day closure, with the first intake of patients admitted to the facility on Monday.<\/p>\n
The Hobart Clinic’s new chair, Tim Booker \u2014 who led a dramatic eleventh-hour rescue bid \u2014 told the ABC that the 27-bed clinic at Rokeby could not afford to run without admitting patients.<\/p>\n
“We have to get the doors open because paying 50 to 70 staff when there’s no revenue becomes very difficult to sustain,” Mr Booker said.<\/p>\n
Mr Booker is the newly appointed chair of The Hobart Clinic. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)<\/p>\n
The clinic received a $2-million transitional funding lifeline from the state government in October<\/a> to reopen for six months while a feasibility study was conducted into its long-term business model, a move backed by the state’s Mental Health Minister Bridget Archer.<\/p>\n Mr Booker said he was optimistic a new funding model could be found to keep the clinic open, and that he has been working closely with clinical director Dr Hannah Lake to ensure the facility was “dry, warm and safe”.<\/p>\n “Some of the early work that we’ve done indicates there is likely to be a sustainable model out the other side, but that’s not guaranteed and that’s the focus of our next three to six months,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “We wouldn’t be doing it if we thought that we couldn’t come up with a sustainable model.” The Hobart Clinic offers a therapeutic service model for its mental health clients. (ABC News: Kate Nickels)<\/p>\n Regulator ‘supportive’ of reopening<\/p>\n The former board of The Hobart Clinic announced in September the facility would be forced to close<\/a> due to a forecast $3 million deficit for the 2025-26 financial year, blaming low private health fund reimbursements and the inability for patients to pay the increasing gap fees.<\/p>\n Hobart Clinic failed audit before government ended funding<\/a><\/p>\n Documents obtained by the ABC show a failed audit at Tasmania’s only large-scale private mental health facility.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n