Calvary confirms reproductive service cuts at some new hospitals

The takeover will more than double Calvary’s hospital portfolio. Doctors had raised concerns that it could contribute to a service desert, with Newcastle the only private maternity hospital between Sydney and the Queensland border and the city a major centre for cancer treatment and palliative care. At a Wednesday evening meeting, obstetricians were told that from December 1 doctors performing banned procedures at Newcastle Private would face disciplinary action.

Newcastle Private obstetrician Dr Denise Nesbitt, who attended the meeting, said she would remain on staff at the hospital to ‘keep looking after our women’. “They can have whatever beliefs they want to live by as Catholics,” Nesbitt said. “But to remove choice from women and patients, to just walk into an established hospital [and] dictate medical decisions is outrageous in 2026.”

Dr Peter Harrigan, a consultant anaesthetist who has worked at Newcastle Private for two decades, called the statement “unsatisfactory”. “This is a significant downgrading of healthcare in the area,” he said. “People in the hospital will receive suboptimal treatment because of the denial of that service and … will need to be moved around, which increases their suffering.”

Local MPs also voiced concerns. Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp said in a letter to the health minister, posted on Facebook, that Newcastle Private had provided vital gynaecological, fertility and obstetric care to Hunter patients for decades. Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery posted that it was “vital that NSW Health pulls any levers that can be pulled to ensure the continued provision of these health services”. Independent MP Greg Piper said government assurances that services remained available in the public sector were “not good enough”, arguing that the public sector may not have capacity.

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said the government does not control clinical services provided by private hospitals. “We don’t determine when a private hospital provider is going to sell, and we don’t determine who is the buyer,” Park told a press conference. He said the NSW Health Secretary was yet to determine whether Calvary met the criteria and that he did not want to see the whole hospital lost to the community. Park said there were not a huge number of buyers for private hospitals and that the government had to balance ensuring services could continue.

Calvary chief executive Damien Bruce said the organisation recognised the changes would have implications for clinicians and patients. “Where Calvary is unable to offer a particular service, admitted patients will continue to receive all other care and support,” the statement said. Bruce said Calvary had provided high-quality, compassionate healthcare for people from all backgrounds, beliefs and circumstances for 140 years. He said the organisation was having active discussions with local clinicians to understand the impacts and was committed to working with relevant healthcare providers to explore appropriate pathways for patients.

Ramsay Health Care, which provides reproductive and end-of-life care in the Hunter, said on Tuesday it was exploring further service offerings in the region, including IVF.