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.
The Hobart Clinic’s new chair, Tim Booker — who led a dramatic eleventh-hour rescue bid — told the ABC that the 27-bed clinic at Rokeby could not afford to run without admitting patients.
“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.
Mr Booker is the newly appointed chair of The Hobart Clinic. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)
The clinic received a $2-million transitional funding lifeline from the state government in October 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.
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”.
“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.Â
“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)
Regulator ‘supportive’ of reopening
The former board of The Hobart Clinic announced in September the facility would be forced to close 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.
Hobart Clinic failed audit before government ended funding
The ABC revealed last month that, under the previous management, the clinic had failed an audit by the health department’s Regulatory and Licensing Unit (RLU), which led to the termination of former chief executive Kath Skinner.
Mr Booker said the RLU had come back to inspect the clinic on Wednesday, and supported the re-admission of patients ahead of an official reopening event expected to take place in early December.
“The comments they’ve made is that it was a very different outcome than what it was the last time they were there,” he said.
“They were supportive fundamentally of us reopening.”
Mr Booker (left), Dr Lake and Dr Robert Walters are members of The Hobart Clinic’s new board. (ABC News: Maren Preuss)
Mr Booker said, while the clinic does not have any critical items outstanding, there were “continuous improvement matters to work through”.
He said the facility had lost a small number of staff due to the closure, but most had volunteered to opt out of their redundancy.
The Hobart Clinic’s lifeline will allow it to continue operating for six months.
 (ABC News: Kate Nickels)
New board member hopeful
Robert Walters recently joined the board of The Hobart Clinic and told ABC Tasmania Mornings that the facility was “vital”.
“The trick to good mental health care is getting people before their situation becomes acute … and that’s what The Hobart Clinic specialises in,” Dr Walters said.
“It gives GPs [and] psychiatrists somewhere to admit patients, to give them care and get them back out into the community … rather than ending up on the acute system which we all know is over-used and chock-a-block.”
Tasmanians more likely to have long-term mental health issues than any other state
The Hobart-based GP said in the past 17 days, the clinic had been “turned around into a place that we can be really proud of”.
“Let’s not forget that care of patients with mental health issues does not just depend on the psychiatrists, it depends on a very strong nursing staff fraternity,” Dr Walters said.
“We’ve got one there that I think is one of the best in the country.
“I’ve been enormously impressed by them and their loyalty to The Hobart Clinic.”