A community rally calling for healthcare access to be protected is set to take place in Newcastle, amid concerns about the planned takeover of Newcastle Private and Hunter Valley Private Hospitals by Catholic health provider Calvary Health Care.
Organised by Hunter Workers and Hunter Womens, the Hands Off Our Healthcare rally will bring community members together at Civic Park to call on the NSW Government to protect access to existing lawful healthcare services as the hospital licences are transferred.
Concerns centre on Calvary’s Catholic ethics framework, which could mean services including contraception, IVF, pregnancy terminations, sterilisation, gender-affirming care and voluntary assisted dying are no longer available at the hospitals.
The changes could affect patients who currently rely on these services as part of their healthcare.
Organisers are concerned the loss of these services would further limit healthcare options in the Hunter, where regional communities already face barriers to accessing some forms of care.
The campaign is calling for no loss of lawful healthcare, no reduction in patient choice and no one in the community being left worse off.
The rally will call on the NSW Government to ensure any transfer of the Newcastle and Hunter Valley Private Hospital licences includes guarantees that patients retain access to the same level of existing lawful healthcare.
The campaign argues that if those protections cannot be guaranteed, the licence transfer should not be approved.
The Hands Off Our Healthcare community rally will take place at Civic Park on Sunday, from 12pm to 1.30pm. The event is free and open to the public, with further information to be announced by organisers on Facebook and Instagram.
