A private hospital in Canberra's inner south is set to close after its operator decided the facility was no longer financially viable, in a fresh sign of the pressure on the private health sector.
Canberra Private Hospital at Deakin's Equinox Business Park will shut after its owner, Nexus Hospitals, concluded it was not possible to keep the health facility running.
A closing date for the hospital, which opened in 2011, has not been set but Nexus said it would likely shut in September.
Nexus chief executive Greg Hall said the hospital was no longer financially sustainable and many private hospitals were facing financial challenges.
"Our focus is to maintain the high standard of patient care that Canberra Private Hospital has provided for many years and minimise any disruption to patients. We are supporting our employees and working with doctors on the transition of their surgical sessions to other hospitals once the hospital closes," Mr Hall said.
Mr Hall said the Nexus Hospitals group remained strong and was growing and would look for opportunities in other markets, including acquisitions and expansions.
Health services such as orthopaedic, vascular and plastic surgery, ophthalmology and IVF procedures have been offered from the hospital, which houses four operating theatres, 38 beds and a day surgery recovery room.
An ACT government spokesman said Canberra Private Hospital only provided a small number of elective surgeries under contracts for the public health system.
"Of the more than 17,000 surgeries performed last year, Canberra Private Hospital delivered about 430 for [Canberra Health Services]. All surgeries currently scheduled at the hospital on behalf of Canberra Health Services will continue as planned," the spokesman said.
"The ACT government is assessing the potential impact on surgical capacity across the ACT health system and is engaging with relevant stakeholders.
"Our focus is on ensuring Canberrans continue to have access to safe, timely care."
Australian Private Hospitals Association chief executive Brett Heffernan warned more closures would follow in the sector and said the crux of the issue facing private hospitals was health insurers not passing on the increased premiums they have collected.
"Instead the insurers are racking up record profits over $2 billion a year and so-called 'management expenses' of $3.4 billion a year, while the hospitals they are supposed to fund are shortchanged by over $1 billion a year for the treatment and care they provide," Mr Heffernan said.
"The consequences are hospital closures across the country, while services in remaining hospitals, like maternity and mental health, are shut down."
Mr Heffernan said the closures put extra pressure on local public hospitals and the federal government needed to hold health insurers accountable.
"We are hopeful positive reforms are coming, but we've been hoping for that for more than three years. It's clearly too late for many private hospitals, including Canberra Private Hospital, and we have warned the federal government more closures are coming," he said.
The impending closure follows the collapse of Healthscope, Australia's second-largest private hospital operator, which went into receivership in May 2025.
Healthscope's collapse led to multinational firm Ramsay Health Care buying the National Capital Private Hospital in Garran for $251 million late last year.
