Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital
South Western Sydney Local Health District
Entrance to Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital
Geography
Location	Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates	33°55′58″S 151°01′16″E / 33.932803°S 151.021028°E / -33.932803; 151.021028
Organisation
Care system	Public Medicare (AU)
Funding	Public hospital
Type	District General, Teaching
Affiliated university	UNSW Sydney
Network	NSW Health
Services
Emergency department	Yes
Beds	454
History
Opened	1996
Links
Website	Official Website
Lists	Hospitals in Australia

Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital is a teaching hospital with tertiary affiliations to the University of New South Wales, University of Sydney and Western Sydney University providing a wide range of general medical and surgical services and sub-specialty services to the Canterbury-Bankstown community. It is part of South Western Sydney Local Health District.

Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital was built next to the former Bankstown Hospital which opened in 1957,^[1] This was later demolished. It became part of the South Western Sydney Local Health District in January 2011 following National Health Reform replacing the former Sydney South West Area Health Service.

In February 2025, the hospital gained international notoriety and widespread condemnation after Israeli TikTok creator Max Veifer posted a video of a male and female NSW Health worker at the hospital having a conversation with him on a video chat, where the nurses bragged about refusing to treat and killing Israeli patients.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

In 1938, the New South Wales Governor and State Government approved the development of a district hospital in Bankstown. In April 1939, the first Hospital Board was elected, who undertook the formation of the hospital. In 1944 an Outpatients Department was opened, which operated with limited resources, and was put under the administration of the Hospital Board.^[7]

Construction of the hospital was postponed for many reasons, until Bankstown District Hospital was officially opened on 7 September, 1957. In May 1966 the facility was renamed "Bankstown Hospital". A teaching relationship was also established with the University of New South Wales. On 5 March 1992 Bankstown amalgamated with Lidcombe Hospital to develop a group hospital. On June 1993, the merging of the hospitals on to the one site was sanctioned. Lidcombe Hospital closed in 1995, after 102 years of service. The 454-bed Bankstown Lidcombe Hospital became serviceable on 26 October 1996.^[7]

In July 2016, Liberal Party minister Jillian Skinner tasked the Ministry of Health to open an investigation into the hospital after a newborn baby boy died and a baby girl suffered brain damage^[8] after they were both exposed to nitrous oxide gas that had mistakenly been piped through an oxygen outlet. It was found that a neonatal resuscitation outlet in one operating room had been installed incorrectly.^[9] Labor Party health spokesman Walt Secord insisted on Skinner authorising an independent investigation,^[10] while fellow legislator Luke Foley called for her resignation as Health Minister after it was revealed that Skinner attended the Helpmann Awards ceremonies soon after news reports about the baby boy's death in the hospital became known.^[11]

Gas supplier BOC agreed to co-operate fully with any investigation while conducting their own inquiry into the mishap.^[10] Around the same time, a 46-year-old Iraqi-born refugee^[8] who had been a patient at the hospital committed suicide in Banks House, the hospital's psychiatric ward.^[12] Minister for mental health Pru Goward announced that there would be an investigation into the circumstances of the woman's death at the hospital, although no foul play was suspected in the case.^[8]

It was later determined that renovations of the ward in 1996 had led to a nitrous oxide pipe being mislabeled, which could have been corrected through proper testing. In April 2020, Judge Wendy Strathdee exonerated BOC of any wrongdoing, while finding installation contractor Christopher Turner guilty of faking testing records, in which he falsely declared that the oxygen pipe carried "100 per cent" oxygen.^[13]

On February 12, 2025, a video chat at Chatruletka between Israeli influencer Max Veifer and two nurses led to widespread criticism and a police investigation, after the nurses said they would kill Israeli patients and refuse to treat them.^[14][15]

The nurses were reportedly chatting from the pediatric section of the emergency department at the hospital. Upon learning that Veifer was Israeli, the male nurse told Veifer he would "go to Jahannam" (i.e., Hell).^[16] The female nurse said that Veifer himself would "die the most horrible death" and that he had "no soul" because he had served in the Israel Defence Force.^{[3][14][17][18]} When Veifer asked what would happen if an Israeli sought care in the hospital, the female nurse said she would not treat them.^[19] The male nurse said he had already killed "Israeli khara dog[s]".^[20][21][22]

The nurses' comments were condemned as antisemitic, and they were both suspended.^[14][23] After an internal investigation, the hospital said there was no evidence of "adverse outcomes" for patients.^[24][14] As of February 2025 three charges have been brought against the female nurse; police investigations are still ongoing.^[15]

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the footage was "sickening and shameful" and that antisemitic comments had "no place in our health system and no place anywhere in Australia".^[20] NSW Premier Chris Minns said the incident was an outlier, but condemned "naked racism" from any public service staff, and said new state legislation is needed to send an "unambiguous message against hate crimes, antisemitism and racism in general".^[24][25] Liberal MP Julian Leeser said Australia's Jewish community was "living in fear".^[26]

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb described the incident as "a sad day for our country", and said it was "unthinkable that we are confronted with and forced to investigate such an appalling incident".^[27] NSW Health Minister Ryan Park condemned the nurses' comments, saying: "I do not want to leave a sliver of light to allow any of them to be able to think they will ever work for NSW Health again."^[28] Co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Alex Ryvchin said the video was "utterly sickening to watch".^[29]

In response to the incident, the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives' Association held a demonstration outside NSW parliament, holding signs bearing messages such as "no hate in health care", "care without bias," and "be kind, be inclusive".^[30] In the aftermath of the incident, another nurse at Bankstown Hospital said she had sounded the alarm about antisemitism at the hospital after the 2023 October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, more than a year prior to the video's release.^[31]

A coalition of Islamic organizations, including Hizb Ut-Tahrir and The Muslim Vote, released a joint statement criticizing what they said was "selective outrage" following the video. The statement said that media outlets and political leaders had provided "active diplomatic and journalistic cover for ongoing crimes by the Zionists" and described the public outrage as "weaponization of antisemitism".^[32][33] Western Australian Senator Fatima Payman condemned the nurses for their "terrible comment" but said the nurses were being treated as if they had "committed the absolute worst crime imaginable" and that there was not "the same level of anger and vitriol" regarding incidents of Islamophobia in Australia.^[34]

The male nurse involved in the incident stated that it had been "just a joke" and "a misunderstanding".^[35] His solicitor said the nurse had sent an apology to Max Veifer and Jewish Australians "as a whole", and was "trying to make amends". The nurse had fled to Australia from Afghanistan with his family as a teenager, and became an Australian citizen four years prior to the incident. The female nurse had graduated with a Diploma of Nursing five years prior to the incident, and had been working at NSW Health since February 2021. The clinic has since removed the names of both nurses from its website.^[31]

The Bankstown Hospital began examining patient records after the nurses' claim that they had killed Israelis, but concluded there was no evidence of harm to patients. Police raided the male nurse's home, and several items were taken for further examination. CCTV footage was collected from the hospital and staff were interviewed by police.^[36] NSW Police officers have spoken to Veifer on a regular basis, working with him to present a signed witness statement that is admissible in the Australian court, since the influencer is in Israel and the video was created in Israel.^[37][16]

On 26 February, the female nurse was charged with three federal offences including threatening violence and using a carriage service to threaten to kill and cause offense.^[15] She was also banned from social media and from leaving Australia. The male nurse was receiving medical treatment after "welfare concerns", and has not been charged but is still under investigation.^[38][39]

• List of hospitals in Australia

• South Western Sydney Local Health District website