Northern Beaches Hospital

Northern Beaches Hospital
Northern Sydney Local Health District Healthscope
Main Entrance of Northern Beaches Hospital
Geography
Location	Frenchs Forest, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates	33°45′03″S151°13′58″E / 33.750751°S 151.232880°E / -33.750751; 151.232880
Organisation
Care system	Medicare (Australia) Private
Funding	Public For-profit
Type	District General
Network	NSW Health Healthscope
Services
Emergency department	Yes
Beds	488
Helipads
Helipad	(ICAO: YXNL)
Number Length Surface ft m 1 concrete
History
Opened	30 October 2018
Links
Website	www.northernbeacheshospital.com.au

The Northern Beaches Hospital is a district general hospital in Frenchs Forest, located in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Originally operated under a public-private partnership hospital when opened, the hospital will be integrated with the public NSW Health system by the middle of 2026. ^{[1] [2]}

History

In May 2013, the State Government announced the Northern Beaches Hospital would be built in Frenchs Forest. Upon its completion it became the primary Hospital for the Northern Beaches, with Manly Hospital to close and Mona Vale Hospital to be downgraded. ^[3] It is operated by Healthscope. ^[4] In December 2014, Leighton Contractors were selected to build the hospital. ^[5] The hospital opened on 30 October 2018.

As part of the project, a series of road enhancements were made to the adjoining Forest Way, Wakehurst Parkway and Warringah Road by a Ferrovial/York Civil joint venture. ^[6] Upgrades were completed in mid-2020.

The hospital is both a private and public hospital, and it is expected that 40% of beds will be reserved for private patients. ^[7]

Northern Beaches Hospital played an integral role in the COVID-19 response in NSW by operating a 7-day/week COVID-19 testing clinic, busy emergency department, and admitted unwell patients into the intensive care unit. In early 2022, over 60 ward beds were dedicated to COVID-19 patients.^{[ citation needed ]} The hospital was one of the first in Sydney to allow visitors to once again visit patients.^{[ citation needed ]}

In September 2024, a two-year-old boy died at the hospital after he "was left in an emergency department chair for 2½ hours despite showing clear signs of a life-threatening condition." ^[8]

In February 2025, after the parents of the boy met New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, it was reported that "the government was also reviewing its options regarding the contract with Healthscope to run Northern Beaches Hospital until 2038 under a controversial public-private partnership." It was also reported that Minns was "open to legislation ruling out any future private-public hospital arrangements in New South Wales." ^[9]

In March 2025, NSW Premier Minns announced that the Government would not rule out buying back Northern Beaches Hospital from its private owners, "after announcing a ban on any future public-private partnerships at acute hospitals" as a consequence of the death of the two year old boy in 2024. ^[10]

In April 2025 an audit conducted by the NSW Government found numerous failings at the hospital including that the hospital was not effectively delivering outcomes and that safety and quality issues remained. ^[11]

In September 2025, the state government announced that NSW Health staff had been embedded within the hospital, to begin its transition to public hands, after the state government reached an in-principle agreement with the receivers of cash-strapped private operator Healthscope. ^[12]

References

1. "Agreement reached to transition Northern Beaches Hospital to public ownership | NSW Government". NSW Government. 21 October 2025. Retrieved 20 October 2025.
2. McSweeney, Kate Aubusson, Jessica (20 October 2025). "Deal struck to bring Northern Beaches Hospital under government control". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
3. World Class Hospital for Northern Beaches Archived 20 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine Minister for Health 2 May 2013
4. Union fears Northern Beaches private hospital plan will prioritise profits over patients Archived 16 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine ABC News 29 October 2014
5. Leighton signs Northern Beaches Hospital contract Archived 16 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine CPB Contractors
6. Northern Beaches Hospital road upgrade project Roads & Maritime Services
7. "What we say about the Northern Beaches Hospital plan NSWNMA - The New South Wales Nurses and Midwives' Association". www.nswnma.asn.au. 13 June 2014. Archived from the original on 11 August 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
8. Thomson, Angus and Newling, Nick (20 February 2025). "Sydney hospital under fire over death of two-year-old boy". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 21 February 2025. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
9. Thomson, Angus and Maddison, Max (26 February 2025). "The changes coming to NSW hospitals after Joe's death at Northern Beaches Hospital". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 26 February 2025. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
10. McGowan, Michael and Thomson, Angus (27 March 2025). "'It hasn't worked for Joe': The law change that will end the Northern Beaches Hospital model". Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 27 March 2025.
11. "Northern Beaches Hospital | Audit Office of New South Wales". www.audit.nsw.gov.au. 17 April 2025. Archived from the original on 24 April 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
12. News, A. (2025). Premier Chris Minns announces ‘in principle’ $190m deal to take over Northern Beaches Hospital. [online] Abc.net.au. Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-21/chris-minns-government-takeover-northern-beaches-hospital/105914848 [Accessed 20 Oct. 2025].

External links

Media related to Northern Beaches Hospital at Wikimedia Commons