Wakefield voters tick Royston merger

Sir Selwyn Cushing

Shareholders in Wellington-based private hospital operator Wakefield Health have given the green light to a proposed merger with Hawkes Bay's Royston Hospital.

They met yesterday to consider the proposal. If approved by Royston shareholders, who were scheduled to meet last night, the amalgamation would take effect on January 31, Wakefield Health said.

The merger follows a swoop by Royston Hospital and the family of Sir Selwyn Cushing on Wakefield in May.

Wakefield, as a listed company, will be the vehicle for the merger deal, with Royston Hospital's owners taking a 39 per cent stake.

Royston is 50 per cent owned by the doctors who use the hospital, and the other half is owned by a charitable trust.

The combined group will have assets of $90 million, including the Wakefield and Bowen hospitals in Wellington, and Royston in Hastings. It will have 130 beds and 12 operating theatres. Its annual turnover is estimated at $60 million.

New Zealand has about 38 private hospitals, 10 wholly and three jointly owned by the biggest operator, Southern Cross.

The deal will cement Wakefield's position as one of the country's biggest private surgical hospital businesses - second only to Southern Cross.

- NZPA