Pathology companies move to slash rents paid to GP practices
A major provider has written to all collection centre landlords to request a temporary 50% cut in rent
GP practices are being asked to slash their rents for pathology collection centres, amid a dramatic slump in tests being ordered as a result of COVID-19.
Healius, one of Australia’s largest pathology companies, has written to the landlords of 2200 collection centres requesting a 50% rent cut, warning it will begin closing facilities without a reduction in its costs.
There are no hard figures but it has been estimated that the revenue to GP clinics from the arrangements with the pathology sector are worth around $150 million a year.
Healius says its income from pathology has fallen by one third in recent weeks, with some services, such as HPV screening, down 50% since the COVID-19 crisis began.
