Poor management and a lack of rapport with surgeons led to Napier's Southern Cross Hospital closure, a Hawke's Bay orthopaedic surgeon says.
Southern Cross announced the April 19 closure of the 24-bed hospital on Thursday. About 45 jobs will be lost.
Denis Atkinson said when the management of the private hospital shifted
from Napier to Palmerston North a year ago the number of patients dropped off dramatically.
"The management and morale in the hospital has been poor since then," Mr Atkinson said.
He said management had not been close to surgeons since the move to Palmerston North, and the first surgeons had learnt about the closure was in a letter asking them to come to a meeting on Thursday.
A "botched" elective surgery contract with ACC had also contributed to the closure, he said.
Southern Cross tendered alone for an ACC contract last year rather than jointly with a private hospital in Hastings as it had in the past, and that had seen surgery volumes drop, Mr Atkinson said.
Southern Cross' regional manager, Jan Lockett-Kay, admitted on Thursday that the ACC contract had not been as profitable as envisaged.
Mr Atkinson said the closure was sad for Napier as the hospital was a superb facility, and he had been a big supporter of Southern Cross over the 16 years he had worked there.
But he was concerned the loss of the hospital would place some pressure on Royston Hospital in Hastings and theatre availability.
Royston's general manager, Andrew Blair, said the increased demand would create some pressure but it would be manageable.
It had been planning to build a third operating theatre and extend its admission and recovery facilities and that would now be fast-tracked, he said.
- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY
