The Ramsay Health Care Ltd (ASX: RHC) share price surged throughout Wednesday. This comes as the private hospital operator provider made an important announcement to investors on the ASX.
At Wednesday's closing bell, Ramsay shares finished the day 0.81% higher to $67.29.
What did Ramsay announce?
In its statement, Ramsay advised that the NSW Ministry of Health that is lifting restrictions on non-urgent elective surgery. The change is for all private and public facilities within Greater Sydney and will come into effect on 25 October.
Overnight elective surgery will be capped at 75% across the board. However, private facilities within this region can exceed the cap if they are providing surgery for public patients.
In addition, the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services also made some amendments to their policy for surgical operations. Last week, only category 1 and category 2 elective surgeries have been allowed to take place across private and public hospitals.
Day surgeries can be performed in metropolitan Melbourne. There are no current restrictions on public health services or public hospitals and emergency surgery.
While a weight has been lifted off Ramsay's shoulders, it noted there will be a material impact on its earnings for FY22. This is a result of surgical restrictions in Australia along with operating in a challenging COVID-19 environment.
About the Ramsay share price
It's been a bumpy road for Ramsay shares, navigating their way through persistent lockdowns and government-mandated restrictions. Certainly, the ASX Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) has moved sideways since this time last year, up 1%.
When compared against the Ramsay share price, over the past 12 months, its shares have moved just 3.7% higher. However, when looking at year-to-date, its shares are up more than 8%.
Based on today's price, Ramsay commands a market capitalisation of roughly $15.4 billion and has 228.88 million shares on hand.
