The NSW government wants the private sector to redevelop and run five public hospitals across the state as part of a new partnership program.

Private healthcare providers have been invited to run and redevelop five regional hospitals across NSW.

The state government says it's seeking to partner non-government operators to help upgrade Maitland, Wyong, Goulburn and Shellharbour hospitals, and support delivering services at Bowral Hospital.

Patients attending those public hospitals will continue to receive free treatment, Health Minister Jillian Skinner said on Thursday.

"The desire of the government is to ensure that we can get really big, further advanced hospitals for those communities, with extra services that they don't have now," she told reporters in Sydney.

Only hospital operators with a proven track record will be considered for the public private partnerships (PPP), including not-for-profit organisations such as St Vincents or Mater.

Current permanent staff would be offered two-year guarantee contracts, if their equivalent position exists within the new structure.

Private company Healthscope recently engaged in a PPP with the Baird government to operate the Northern Beaches Hospital.

That partnership has allowed the government to identify more than $1.5 billion in savings over the 20-year contract, Ms Skinner said, adding the new PPPs would give taxpayers "very good value" for their infrastructure investment dollar.

Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham has slammed the move as "a step towards the Americanisation of health services", saying his party will strongly oppose any type of privatisation of the public health system.

The recent chemotherapy underdosing scandal at Sydney's St Vincent's Hospital has demonstrated what can go wrong when private operators run public hospitals, he said.

Labor's spokesman for Health, Walt Secord, has urged the government to release more details on the projects.

"Once again, the Baird government has made a major decision without consulting or informing the community of the implications," he said.

"There needs to be clear and unequivocal guarantees that public patients will not be treated as second-class citizens."