ACT health authorities are prepared to chat with Calvary staff but need invitation

The Canberra Times understands there has been concern within Canberra Health Services about whether Calvary staff have been discouraged from attending its transition information sessions.

Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said she was prepared to speak with staff at Calvary Public Hospital Bruce but has not yet been allowed to.

Officials and Ms Stephen-Smith have approached Calvary about meeting with staff of the Bruce public hospital but have not been invited to do so.

Calvary did not directly address these concerns but said staff were the main priority. A spokeswoman said its own information sessions have been well attended by staff.

"Calvary's priority is to support our staff and we will continue to do this," a Calvary spokeswoman said.

"Following last week's shock announcement by the territory we held a series of town halls to hear directly from our staff about how they were feeling. These sessions were well attended and also open to union representatives.

"We are considering all options to provide the best support to our staff in these difficult and uncertain times, which have been imposed on us by the territory."

Canberra Health Services has been holding almost daily sessions for Calvary staff to receive information about the acquisition and Calvary held its own meetings last week.

The ACT government will compulsorily acquire the Bruce public hospital on July 3, in a move the government has said will lead to a more integrated health system.

The government also wants the land to build a new $1 billion hospital for Canberra's booming north.

Staff from Calvary have expressed a desire to speak with the Health Minister about the compulsory acquisition. Ms Stephen-Smith said she would be happy to do so at any time but would need to be invited by Calvary.

"I have made it very clear that I will be happy to come to Calvary at any time but again, I need to be invited by Calvary to speak with their staff," she told ABC radio.

"We've made it very clear to Calvary that I am happy to come and talk to staff at any time but for me to go to Calvary public hospital, at this point in time, I need to be invited by the operators of Calvary public hospital and that is Calvary Health Care.

"I don't think they would appreciate it if I simply rocked up."

Meanwhile, the territory's acting Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson has said he believed the decision was based on ideology rather than on good policy. He also raised concerns the government could target other institutions.

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"This whole exercise appears more ideological than it does based on good policy. It is being viewed by many as an anti-faith agenda by a Greens-Labor coalition and it is hard to believe that at its hear, that's what's driving this whole saga," Mr Hanson wrote in an opinion piece for The Canberra Times.

"The question on everyone's tongue is, who is next? Will it be Clare Holland House, also run by Calvary? Or maybe the racecourse, which the government has had its eyes on for a while now. Because once a government starts behaving like a dictatorship, history shows us, they seldom stop."

A similar sentiment has been expressed by the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn has started a campaign against the compulsory acquisition. Catholic Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn Christoper Prowse wrote to worshippers saying people would be deprived of care based on the ethos of their faith.

"I am also concerned that this action, based on obsessive government control, would deprive future generations in Canberra of the choice of hospital based on the ethos of our cherished Catholic faith," Archbishop Prowse wrote.

"There is a rising fear also, that this extraordinary and completely unnecessary government intervention could set the scene for future 'acquisitions' of any faith-based health facility, or, indeed, any faith-based enterprise, including education or social welfare."

Ms Stephen-Smith said she fully expected the Catholic Church to campaign against the decision.

"We always knew that Calvary, if they weren't going to support the change that the church would get involved and that the Catholic Church would run a campaign against this," she said.

"I have been surprised by some of the rhetoric and some of the letters that Archbishop Prowse has sent out, for example around the rights of people of a particular faith to have access to a public hospital of a particular faith."

Ms Stephen-Smith emphasised, again, the decision had nothing to do with religion.

The government was working with Calvary on the new hospital and had offered the organisation another 25-year agreement to operate the hospital. But the 25-year agreement was much shorter than the existing agreement, which currently has 76 years remaining.

"If it had been [about religion] we wouldn't have offered Calvary a 25-year agreement to run the new hospital," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

There are posters around Canberra from a group called Catholic Action which are critical of the government's decision. One of the posters says "Pray for Stephen-Smith".

Ms Stephen-Smith was asked if she would appreciate if people would pray for her.

"That's entirely a choice for other people. I'm not a religious person. If people would like to pray for me that's fine. I don't necessarily know that I need if for the reasons that the posters would suggest," she said.

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