Public land in a dozen Tasmanian suburbs is being offered to private aged care providers as the state tries to move older patients out of hospital beds and ease pressure on the health system.
The state government owns 13 greenfield sites across the north, north-west and south and wants providers to develop three new facilities, one in each region.
Health Minister Bridget Archer said the move delivered on a 2025 election commitment and would give older Tasmanians access to care closer to home as the population ages.
The Department of Health said in July that about 100 patients are in Tasmanian hospital beds on any given day despite being well enough to leave, because they are waiting for an aged care or NDIS place.
Archer said some had been waiting much longer.
“We know that there are some patients that have been in our hospitals for up to nine months that are medically fit to be discharged,” she said.
“Where people no longer need to be in hospital, we know that has a detrimental impact on their health over time.”
She said she particularly wanted to see more memory support units, which could take some of those long-stay patients.
Archer put the cost of keeping those patients in hospital at about $432 million over the life of the budget.
Figures released by health ministers this month show 78 Tasmanians were waiting in hospital for a Commonwealth aged care place in mid-2026, up from 55 a year earlier.
Nationally, the number has grown from more than 2,700 to more than 3,600.
The sites on offer are at Wynyard, Shorewell Park and Park Grove in the north-west; Rokeby, Bellerive and Taroona in the south and Kings Meadows, Newnham and Ravenswood in the north.
Providers can lodge proposals through an expression of interest process opening on September 26 and closing on November 6.
They will first submit high-level proposals, with shortlisted providers then asked to prepare a detailed business case.
The facilities would be funded, built and run by the providers, with community consultation still to come.
Another 20 aged care beds are currently under construction at the Launceston Health Hub and are expected to open early next year.
Archer said the state would continue calling on the federal government, which is responsible for aged care, to fund solutions for patients stranded in hospital.
