The ACT government has announced plans to take over Calvary Public Hospital in Bruce.

The government says Canberra Health Services will take over the delivery of public health services at the Bruce campus in just two months' time. 

While rumours of the takeover had been circulating for months, the speed at which the government moved surprised many, including stakeholders such as the Australian Medical Association, who support the idea.

The announcement was made on Wednesday last week, with an enabling bill introduced in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday. 

A motion was also passed to suspend the requirement for any committee inquiry into the bill to table a report before the proposal is debated. 

The government's eye has been on Calvary for over a decade, with the plan being to replace the existing agreement for health services with a new 25-year agreement, to tackle fragmentation and barriers to genuinely integrated and networked hospitals.

Following news of the takeover, Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith conceded that the government's relationship with the Catholic operator had, at times, been strained. 

She emphasised that this was about efficiency and not about Calvary being a faith-based service.

The takeover is a controversial decision, giving the opposition further ammunition and is something that the Catholic-run Calvary Health Care does not support. 

Father Tony Percy, who is now spearheading the church's campaign to stop the takeover of Calvary, said the government's decision was “very ideological” and questioned which community group the government had “in the gun” ready to fire next.

The government has not yet confirmed what they would be willing to pay by way of compensation for the acquisition. 

Meanwhile, Calvary has also not confirmed whether it will take legal action. 

Either way, the government's takeover will come at a cost, but the ACT government sees this as a necessary step to address the current issues faced by the capital's health system.