Canberra Hospital in Woden. Photo: Rohan Thomson
Canberra’s two main hospitals are among the most expensive to run in Australia, thanks to generous staff superannuation and high administration costs.
Expenses are so high in the capital that an emergency patient admitted to an ACT ward costs more than twice as much to treat as similar patients in South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania.
The latest national data also shows that, in 2011-12, ACT hospital costs were Australia’s highest for elective and acute-care patients, while the costs of treating Canberra’s subacute patients (such as those in rehabilitation or palliative care) were second only to Northern Territory hospitals.