Building a hospital in Australia is far higher than in France because of regulatory constraints, according to an article on The Australian Business Review website.
Ramsay Health Care boss Chris Rex said a hospital in France could be built for 40-50 percent of what it would cost in Australia.
"From a regulatory point of view in Australia, everything gets bigger, or the need for every space that we build gets bigger every year,” he said.
“We have the potential to make life difficult for ourselves in Australia by insisting that we perhaps overbuild what we really need in order to provide a given set of outcomes.”
Population growth will mean that hospitals will stil be built, he said.
“Every couple of years or so, with net migration and natural reproduction there is almost another million Australians around out there who are potential patients."