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BY BRUCE MANNERS
 arburton Hospital has been sold. The deal was finalized on September
11, at which time the staff was informed. Warburton is the second
Adventist Hospital in the South Pacific Division that has been sold
in the past nine months. In December 1999, Auckland Adventist Hospital
in New Zealand was sold.
The sale includes all property owned by the hospital, including
hospital houses, and houses on the estate owned by Signs Publishing
Company (this property is all on what is known as Signs Hill). The
property will be transferred on October 30.
"It's saddening to realise an institution providing service to the community since 1910 is now moving out of church control," says chief executive officer Eliot Bolst.
The new buyers, Prospa Pty Ltd, plan to maintain the services (drug detoxification and medical and preventative care) currently offered by the hospital.
"We have several regrets," says Pastor David Currie, president of the Trans-Australian Union Conference and chair of the hospital board.
"One is, obviously, we lose the hospital. It's been a blessing to the church, and we know staff and the immediate and larger community have benefited largely from its presence as a Seventh-day Adventist institution.
"Another is we lose the health resort, which is based on a blueprint handed down 70 years ago.
"And we regret that most of the quality staff will no longer be working for the church."
Pastor Currie cites financial difficulties as the reason for the sale. These came, he says, mainly through the building of the new hospital, which opened in 1994.
"We had a large loan that was difficult to pay because the hospital was rarely fully occupied, particularly in the past few years."
Three years ago the hospital closed 25 beds when the hospital lost Medicare funding. About the same time the older resort was closed by the local government because of fire safety.
"We also had no money, nor could we raise loans, to refurbish the resort. It needed refurbishing to continue to attract the kind of clientele that would in turn be attracted to the hospital."
The hospital's net loss over the past five years is $A2.25 million (which includes depreciation). The union first placed it on the market in January 1998 and has actively searched for a buyer since then, except for a six-month period when it was taken off the market (May to November 1998).
Employment for staff
"Those involved in negotiations have worked hard to ensure continuity of employment, knowing that in Warburton employment opportunities are limited," says Mr Bolst. "The staff deserve some kind of employment assurance for their loyal service to us."
Director of nursing Jan Robinson says while she feels sad about the sale, she feels a sense of relief it has finally happened. And she senses that same feeling among staff, mostly. "And a positive feeling toward the future," she adds.
While some do express anger at the sale, there does seem to be a sense the inevitable has arrived. Counselling from within the church and from outside is available for those who request it.
The new owners have given assurances staff who wish to keep the Sabbath will be allowed to do so. The owners will be introduced to staff on September 20.
Some staff will receive a "loyalty payment."
"This will be for those who were at the hospital on January 28, 1998, and who stay through until the transfer to Prospa Pty Ltd," says Pastor Currie. "We're still working on the final arrangements."
A message in the sale
"The sale of the hospital sends a message that we must be careful in our operations and building programs," says Pastor Currie, "that we do sufficient research with consultants to make sure any projects that should be earning funds are able to be operated in the black and not the red."
 And, he adds, because of the losses and loan and staff contingencies, there will probably be no funds left from the sale for any other purpose. (The sale price is not publicly known because of a confidentiality agreement.)
"What it does mean is that the union will not have to underwrite losses any further and that money will go back to the conferences, where it belongs.
"Our health emphasis must now be more at the local church than in an institution."
On whether the decision could have waited until church restructure was completed, when an Australian union with more reserves could have supported the hospital, Pastor Currie notes the decision to sell came before restructure was on the agenda.
"The time it has taken to sell the hospital helps us understand how important it was to put it on the market when we did. The new union would probably not want a cumbersome debt."
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Bruce Manners, editor Record, the official paper of the South Pacific Division. This article first appeared in the Record, September 30, 2000.
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