Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made a safe decision to replace embattled former minister Sussan Ley with a man regarded by many in politics as the Minister for Damage Control, Greg Hunt.

Mr Hunt has a reputation as being an MP capable of putting an issue to bed, so to speak. Taking control of something that potentially could become a major problem, and making it seemingly disappear.

The federal health portfolio is an interesting one, mainly because the states and territories are ultimately responsible for running health in their own patch.

But it’s still an incredibly important area for the federal government. Just look at the damage done to the Coalition during the last election by Labor’s ‘Mediscare’ campaign. Many believe it almost cost Malcolm Turnbull the keys to the Lodge. Almost.

From a Tasmanian perspective, the federal health minister has a much bigger, more important role to play due to the fact the federal government continues to fund the Mersey Community Hospital – the only such deal in effect in the country.

For state Health Minister Michael Ferguson, it’s essential that he has a good working relationship with his new federal counterpart. Without that funding commitment, some extremely serious, soul-searching decisions would need to be made.

And that would easily flow through to Tasmania’s federal Liberal MPs. Imagine the uproar if the Coalition decided to not continue the current funding deal, which is valid until June 30.

The state government wants a 10-year commitment under the same terms and conditions as the current contract, and the federal government would retain ownership of the hospital. 

But the multi-million dollar question is, does Greg Hunt and the PM want to make such a decision while faced with the current budgetary constraints? Only time will tell.

Mr Ferguson will no doubt be anxious to meet with Mr Hunt as soon as possible to continue the negotiations he had with Ms Ley prior to her standing down last week.

It will be a difficult conversation for everyone. Pulling out of the deal may be the right thing to do from a financial stance for the feds, but it will put even more pressure on the Liberals at a time they need to be rebuilding bridges with the Tasmanian community.