A private hospital in Melbourne’s western suburbs closes its doors after one year of operation, leaving patients without care and staff without a job. What’s the scam?
The scam is that private hospitals are not the way to run a proper health care system, especially when the absence of proper regulation means there is nothing either the State or Federal Government can do to protect the interests of patients and staff.
According to the ABC, staff was given less than 12 hours’ notice and just a few days to move patients to other hospitals. In a statement from the appointed administrator, Wexted Advisors, it was made clear that there was no more funding available and that
Limited staff have been retained to assist with patient care and oversee an orderly wind-down of hospital operations over the next few days.
Sunshine Private Hospital opened on 23 May 2023, and was operated by Unitas Healthcare, “a leading healthcare provider with a focus on quality patient care.” Sunshine Private is – was – their only operating business.
Unitas’s funding came from Belay Capital, an Australian “early growth stage Private Equity Manager.” based in Double Bay. Their other investments include a high-tech company governance platform, Ansarada (ASX:AND) and a car washing service. Belay Capital was founded by former ANZ Global Head of Balance Sheet Trading, Etienne Alexiou. He was fired by the ANZ in 2020 for ” breaching bank policies by engaging in lewd and explicit conversations on the company’s chat system.” Alexiou denied this was the reason for his dismissal.
MWM has asked for comments from Unitas.
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