St Lukes welcomes Health Hub investment, but fears it's not enough

But they raised concerns it would not be enough to meet the needs of the community alone, based on feedback received through their member survey and advice to the Department of Health.

Chief executive Paul Lupo said it was encouraging to see both parties' health investment in Northern Tasmania.

"We are heartened to see a Tasmanian proponent, with a long history of health service provision in the state putting a solution on the table," Mr Lupo said.

"It is encouraging to see new models of care introduced which would assist in freeing up beds in a sustainable fashion by linking into out-of-hospital rehab. This is the type of innovative thinking we need.

He encouraged both parties to understand how the health hub would integrate with the Launceston General Hospital (LGH) to deliver greater access to higher acuity services, enabling more complex surgery to take place in Launceston through the co-located hospital proposal.

"Further, with Calvary remaining committed to the area, the new government must ensure that any future plans from both proponents will complement and support each other to meet the growing capacity needs of the region," Mr Lupo said.

"There are currently 119,000 Tasmanians in the North and North West of the state who rely on private health services through private health insurance, which makes a significant impact in easing the burden on the public system.

"Statewide, this equates to 109,000 episodes of care in hospitals alone, and up to 2.1 million episodes if you include general treatment services."

Mr Lupo said there was an opportunity to create "one of the best" regional health systems in Australia, with the ability to attract and retain the highest calibre specialists and researchers to the North.

"But it is critical that we don't take a piecemeal approach," Mr Lupo said.

"St Lukes is dedicated to working constructively with the new government as well as public and private operators, including Calvary and the Launceston Health Hub, to ensure we deliver the best health care we can, combining the advantages of both systems for the benefit of the community."