‘It was Joe’s love’: The campaign to bring Northern Beaches Hospital into public hands

Northern Beaches Hospital is transitioning to public ownership on Wednesday, six months after the NSW government agreed to a $190 million takeover from private operator Healthscope, a move spurred by the 2024 death of two-year-old Joe Massa. Health Minister Ryan Park expressed confidence that private services would continue amid high community demand, though the shift marks a major overhaul of the controversial public-private partnership model. The Massa family's campaign led to both the end of the PPP and broader reforms, including new patient safety initiatives. The transition, completed in about a year, would have originally taken up to four years under the initial agreement.