Government said to be considering purchase and nationalisation of some private hospitals

The Government is considering buying a number of the country’s 19 main private hospitals and nationalising them in a bid to increase public bed capacity in the health system post-Covid-19.

Government plans to increase the number of hospitals under the Ireland 2040 capital development project will, if suitable, include the purchase of existing private facilities, as opposed to simply building new ones, several senior sources have said.