The last large-scale private mental health hospital in Tasmania's south has reopened after a 17-day closure, with the first intake of patients admitted to the facility on Monday.

The Hobart Clinic's new chair, Tim Booker — who led a dramatic eleventh-hour rescue bid — told the ABC that the 27-bed clinic at Rokeby could not afford to run without admitting patients.

"We have to get the doors open because paying 50 to 70 staff when there's no revenue becomes very difficult to sustain,"

Mr Booker said.

The clinic received a $2-million transitional funding lifeline from the state government in October to reopen for six months while a feasibility study was conducted into its long-term business model, a move backed by the state's Mental Health Minister Bridget Archer.

Mr Booker said he was

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