Families have been devastated by the decision to close the Central Coast’s only private maternity amid a staffing crisis in the region’s public obstetrics services and the collapse of private birthing hospitals nationally. On Wednesday, private hospital operator Healthe Care announced it would close Gosford Private Hospital’s maternity services on March 31, leaving the public Gosford Hospital as the only birthing unit for a region spanning 1680 kilometres and with a population of more than 350,000. One of Gosford Private Hospital’s luxury birthing suites.
Credit: Gosford Private Hospital, Facebook The closure will disrupt the plans of pregnant women in their first and early second trimesters who had already booked in to give birth at the service after this date. It is less than four years since Gosford Private opened a new luxury maternity ward, which featured immersion baths, monsoon showers, and dedicated partner accommodation as part of its $32 million expansion. Healthe Care said the decision was driven by declining birth rates, decreased demand for private maternity services, increasing cost-of-living pressures, and challenges with private health insurance funding for private hospitals .
The operator also closed its Tuggerah Lakes Private Hospital in November 2023. “We are very aware of the impact this decision will have on the local community and expecting families in particular,” Gosford Private Hospital CEO Stephen Johnston said. Meanwhile, the Central Coa.