- For medical professionals
- FAQs for VMOs
FAQs for VMOs
Questions and answers for Visiting Medical Officers regarding the transfer of St John of God Mt Lawley Hospital to the Western Australian Government.
The difficult decision to consider selling Mt Lawley hospital has not been made lightly. However, transitioning the hospital to the State would enable the facility to continue serving the community, while allowing us to focus on the delivery of private health services where private health care demand is strongest.
Over time, Perth’s population has grown and shifted, and that has changed where and how people need care. We’ve seen a reduction in demand for private hospital services in the Mt Lawley area, which is already well served by St John of God Health Care and other private hospitals, while at the same time there is growing demand for private care at our Subiaco, Murdoch and Midland hospitals.
We’re also seeing rapid growth in population across Perth’s eastern corridor which is why St John of God Health Care is relocating and developing an expanded new Midland Private Hospital – a brand new state of the art standalone private hospital that will support the current and future health care needs of Perth’s eastern suburbs and the wider Wheatbelt region.
Over time, Perth’s population has grown and shifted, and that has changed where and how people need care. We’ve seen a reduction in demand for private hospital services in the Mt Lawley area, which is already well served by St John of God Health Care and other private hospitals, while at the same time there is growing demand for private care at our Subiaco, Murdoch and Midland hospitals.
We’re also seeing rapid growth in population across Perth’s eastern corridor which is why St John of God Health Care is relocating and developing an expanded new Midland Private Hospital – a brand new state of the art standalone private hospital that will support the current and future health care needs of Perth’s eastern suburbs and the wider Wheatbelt region.
All doctors can continue to work at Mt Lawley until the time of transition which is expected to be complete in 2026.
As valued partners of SJG, we will be making every effort to reallocate our Mt Lawley doctors to the new Midland Private Hospital or to our other hospitals in Subiaco or Murdoch, where possible. Through an EOI process, you will be invited to share with us your relocation preferences, your theatre preferences and any other needs you might have regarding this relocation. Our team will then work with you to achieve what we can to facilitate this as seamlessly as possible.
As valued partners of SJG, we will be making every effort to reallocate our Mt Lawley doctors to the new Midland Private Hospital or to our other hospitals in Subiaco or Murdoch, where possible. Through an EOI process, you will be invited to share with us your relocation preferences, your theatre preferences and any other needs you might have regarding this relocation. Our team will then work with you to achieve what we can to facilitate this as seamlessly as possible.
We are currently working through a plan to streamline the credentialing process to expedite the credentialing pathway at the new Midland Private hospital. If you are already credentialed at our Murdoch and Subiaco hospitals, then re-credentialing at these hospitals will not be required if you transition. If you are not credentialed at these hospitals, we will provide further information on the process you will need to undertake and provide support to you.
We understand that theatre scheduling is important to your practice and patients. As part of the EOI process, we will be working closely with all doctors to understand your current schedule, preferred session times and any other requirements.
Once we have all these requests, we will finalise the theatre schedule and provide you written confirmation of your allocation. Our process for allocating lists across our hospitals is unchanged. It will be based on the needs of the organisation, surgeon preferences, available resources (staffing, equipment, theatre efficiencies) and community demand.
Once we have all these requests, we will finalise the theatre schedule and provide you written confirmation of your allocation. Our process for allocating lists across our hospitals is unchanged. It will be based on the needs of the organisation, surgeon preferences, available resources (staffing, equipment, theatre efficiencies) and community demand.
We are looking to expand the new Midland Private Hospital to include additional theatres, ensuring additional capacity for the expected increase in activity.
Doctors from both Midland and Mt Lawley are highly valued partners and remain an important part of our service model. We will be working closely with doctors from Midland and Mt Lawley to understand their needs and preferences and will provide written confirmation of allocations once determined.
As part of the EOI process, we will talk with you about your current anaesthetist support and your preferences going forward. We will do our best to support you in continuing those relationships provided your anaesthetist is credentialled at the hospital you are relocated to.
Yes, the new hospital will have state of the art theatres with specialised equipment to support a wide range of procedures and be well-equipped to deliver safe and high-quality care. This includes transferring equipment, including the orthopaedic robots, from Mt Lawley. We will confirm the full list of available equipment as soon as it is finalised.
There is additional work underway to progress medium and longer-term initiatives to support private rehabilitation services for the Perth metropolitan area. We will keep you informed on the progress of these initiatives.
We are reviewing planning options to minimise any potential service gap. While a short-term disruption may occur, our aim is to ensure that this is kept to a minimum. We will keep you informed of any potential impacts so you can plan accordingly.
No, it won’t change.
No, St John of God Health Care will ensure that patients who are booked at Mt Lawley are not financially impacted by this change if they need to have their procedure at one of our other hospitals.
For self-funded procedures, if patients have already received a quote from Mt Lawley, this will be honoured.
For self-funded procedures, if patients have already received a quote from Mt Lawley, this will be honoured.
We are committed to supporting our Mt Lawley doctors through this transition. We will share more over the coming days, including at planned VMO information sessions and individual discussions. In addition, we will provide clear guidance on the EOI process and allocation process.
We understand how important it is to have consulting rooms close to the hospital in which you work. If you have rooms at Mt Lawley, you can continue to consult from them throughout the period of transition. Once private services cease at Mt Lawley and we know where you would like to relocate within the St John of God Health Care group, our team will work with you to identify how we might best assist and make this transition as smooth as possible. However, our policy does not include covering the cost of consulting rooms.
We are in the process of reviewing local options to accommodate private rooms and sessional suite needs. Further information will be provided shortly.