Health Care of Australia (HCoA)

Health Care of Australia (HCoA) became Australias largest and most dominant market listed health care corporation. Founded as Hospitals of Australia (HOA) in the early 1980s by two Newcastle entrepreneurs, the company grew rapidly and floated as a trust in 1986. In 1991 it doubled in size following the purchase of Hospitals Corp of Australia (HCA) from Hospital Corp of America. Further expansion occurred in 1995 with the purchase of Australian Medical Enterprises. HCoA pioneered the privatisation of public hospitals and collocate private hospitals on public hospital campuses during the mid 1990s. Privatisations occurred in NSW (Port Macquarie Hospital), Western Australia (Joondalup Hospital), Victoria (Austin Hospital), Tasmania (Mercy Hospital) and in Queensland (Noosa). Mayne Nickless later acquired full ownership and the group operated as Mayne Health. Preferring to focus on pharmaceuticals, Mayne later sold their hospital division to a management buyout team, backed by Vent...