Royal North Shore Hospital Under Threat of Sale

Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) in Sydney is under threat of sale or long-term lease of it's southern campus.
Staff and local residents will stage an urgent meeting tomorrow to discuss the threat.
RNSH staff has recently learned an “Expression of Interest” process has commenced with private developers for commercial purposes & to house state government departments & affiliated agencies. This has allegedly occurred without hospital staff & local community consultation.
Forum organisers say a sale or long-term lease severely restricts the hospital’s future growth. The RNSH campus is already one of the smallest major local referral & teaching hospitals in NSW, yet the hospital services 1-in-17 Australians. Established  in 1885, RNSH and its associated health services meet the health needs of four local government areas - Mosman, Willoughby, Lane Cove and North Sydney.
Dr Adam Rehak from the RNSH Medical Staff Council says the divestment is a “short-term solution for the government but one that has long-term implications for the hospital and the well-being of patients who use it.”
"It clearly gives no consideration to the current population growth which will soon see the hospital bursting at the seams.”
“What cannot be reversed is the sale or divestment of valuable land. Land, which is not just valuable in terms of economics, but also valuable in terms of patient health and wellbeing," says  Dr John Vandervoord, Clinical Director of Surgery & Anaesthesia, RNSH & Clinical Director of Surgery, North Shore Local Health District.
In 2011, RNSH staff, patients and relatives marched on NSW parliament and delivered a petition to the current Liberal Government with 14,962 signatures with a remit of three requests including no sale of hospital land, an increase in acute hospital beds, and  location of displaced services such as childcare, patient and relative accommodation.
The community forum will take place from 10am in the Kolling Auditorium. To find out more, go to www.save.rnsh.org