The plans announced just over a year ago for a brand new St Vincent’s Hospital on Uralba Street opposite the Lismore Base Hospital have been put on hold; instead, the existing hospital has been getting a makeover.

Alan Cooper, St Vincent’s Lismore Hospital’s CEO, talked to the Lismore App about the difficult decision and revealed more details about the plans being put into place.

“At the present moment, the sale of the hospital is on hold. If we were to have a larger organisation of similar faith and intent, we would consider merging or becoming, partnering with that entity.”

However, Mr Cooper does not see that happening in the short term.  

Mr Cooper joined the team at St Vincent’s in October last year, where he moved to Lismore after spending 24 years as CEO of a private hospital in Bundaberg, with a prior background as a Director of Nursing in Beaudesert.  

Among his tasks, he was to assess the viability of the plans for a new hospital, and he found they were not in the best interest at the present time. 

“I came here to look at issues and what we could do to transform the organisation. It was apparent that we needed to spend some money to at least make what we have into a viable option as a private hospital. So, over the past 12 months, my job has been to transform it both from a facility and looking at the aesthetic side.”

Mr Cooper spoke of the challenges the private hospital sector is currently undergoing as presenting a real threat to any facility. Coupled with Lismore’s recent struggles, in particular COVID and floods, the timing for a big change does not seem advantageous.

“Lismore has been hit badly by some serious situations, the flood being the biggest, and COVID was probably just as bad. The two major events have put pressure on Lismore. And that impacts a single standalone hospital owned by a Catholic Church - the only one in Australia owned by a diocese in its entirety.

“The whole of the private health industry is in difficulty. There's a lot around at the present moment indicating that hospitals aren't viable. They're not functioning particularly well and some hospitals are even closed down because of that. The Lismore Diocese has really struggled with what the future holds.”

Renovations are well underway at the hospital; Inside and out have been painted, and new carpets, furniture, and decor make the internals look modern and inviting. 

“We've started the public front. And then, at Christmas, we're starting to get into the bathrooms and the wards. Ward three and the high dependency unit are closed and will start renovations.”

Mr Cooper believes it is important to have a private health facility in any region, and the expectation is that it will look after its patients in an outstanding manner. Mr Cooper has applied the revitalisation to “patient experience and patient comfort”, implementing new roles to assist with community care. 

“What we need to do is to build this place to be relevant for the community, bringing the great services that are needed and building those services to the best that we can. We have to make sure that what we build has a sustainable future - that it is a service that is needed and required by the community, but it's also able to be continued once we start.”

One of the things St Vincent’s does not have is an emergency department where you can walk in off the street. However, they are introducing changes to make it simpler to be admitted.

“We've been looking at how to improve accessibility. We are looking into all those areas of what we can do to enable people to have easier access into our hospital. Maybe they are not sick enough - they don't always have to go to an emergency department.”

St Vincent’s now has a liaison person who speaks with doctors to understand patient needs, and if required, they can be admitted via that route.

“One of our senior nurses is now the contact point for doctors to ring us and say, look, I've got Mrs Jones in my surgery, for example. She's not well, and she needs to be admitted. Instead of sending her to the emergency department, I'll send her directly to do some tests.” 

Mr Cooper is aware that some people are disappointed when they find they cannot access St Vincent's amenities. Private health insurance doesn’t necessarily guarantee you coverage in a private hospital. He explains there is a big difference between Bronze and Gold coverage, “Bronze cover is for a private patient in a public hospital.

“If you don't have gold cover, then you need to know what you're not covered for. If a situation arises and you want to come to St Vincent’s, you may not be covered for that. It is a good idea to understand your level of cover well.”

Please note that this may not be applicable to all health insurers. The Lismore App have been made aware that some health insurers have much more stringent regulations on where private patients can receive treatment. It is best that you investigate your level of cover andconditions thoroughly so you understand your risk.

The information for the decision to renovate rather than rebuild has been held back for some time. Mr Cooper says, “Partly why we haven't made too much public yet is because we want to get ourselves established with a new look, a new feel and a new presentation, and a lot of it has been training of staff. 

“A significant part of what we're doing is turning the culture around and there's things that we need to be cleaned up for a consistent approach. That affects the way we're doing business and working together and really getting behind the scenes into our equipment and looking at what needs replacing. 

“If we're going down this path and not the new hospital, it's time to refresh and get these things back on deck again.”

Along with the announcement of a new hospital was the conversion of the old hospital into an aged care facility. Mr Cooper is also the CEO of St Joseph's Nursing Home and Mary’s Grange. He considers that these two facilities are serving Lismore well, and can do even better with some TLC.

“St Vincent’s and St Joseph's have consistently provided excellent care. They really have, even in an environment that may not have been aesthetically beautiful, and they've had very high commendations from accreditation reviewers.

“The hospital had a spot accreditation of three assessors over three days of eight standards, 148 actions were checked. And they found nothing to update - they had no recommendations.

“And the same thing with St Joseph's, they found it provides very good care. The number of stars that they get is really quite amazing.”

St Joseph's has also been going through renovations.

“There's been some things that were let go but we are cleaning it up, making sure that the residents are in an environment that’s improving. We're putting in new furniture, making sure that the maintenance is getting done, and I think there's further opportunity, but we haven't got there yet. 

“In the interim, the idea is to make it comfortable, make it presentable.”

Mr Cooper speaks of his experience, “I come from hospitals in regional areas, and for me, Lismore Hospital in this regional area needs support from the community. It needs encouragement, and it needs to have a plan for the future, and that's what we're really on about. 

“We want to be able to do the best we possibly can for our region.”

If you are interested in further announcements about the changes happening at St Vincent’s Hospital, they have regular updates on their Facebook page.

Last year's story on a new hospital can be found here.