Aspen Medical : 10th Anniversary Book

A decade of making a difference.

From start-up to a global leader in innovative healthcare solutions.

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

ArmstrongQ ABN 85 003 925 380 Tel: 02 9262 2310 Fax: 02 9262 1196 Email: info@armstrongQ.com.au Website: www.armstrongQ.com.au General Manager: Peter Armstrong Publisher: Jaqui Lane Author: Jaqui Lane, Global Stories www.globalstories.com.au © 2013 Aspen Medical This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be directed to National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: Jaqui Lane, 1962Title: A decade of making a difference. From startup to a global leader in innovative healthcare solutions/Jaqui Lane ISBN: 978-0-9923691-1-8 Subjects: Business, business history

Page 1 : Aspen Team working on an oil and gas project in Queensland.

Page 2: An Aspen Registered Nurse cares for a member of the Elcho Island community, 2009.

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A decade of making a difference.

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

Contents Foreword

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Introduction Wherever we’re needed 6 Chapter One

We think ahead and see opportunities

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Chapter Two:

A ‘can do’ attitude

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Chapter Three:

A focus on delivery

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Chapter Four:

Making a difference

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Chapter Five:

An atmosphere of excellence

79

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Foreword A little over ten years ago, Aspen Medical had two employees – yours truly and the other founder, my long time friend, Dr Andrew Walker.

We started with an idea: to deliver innovative healthcare that provided a better value proposition to the customer.

From our first consultancy contract in the UK with the National Health Service to today has been an exciting journey.

Today, there are more than 2,200 of us providing world-class healthcare solutions to companies in the Federal and State Government Health Authorities, a range of other Government Departments, major corporations, and the oil, gas, mining and resource sectors in Australia, as well as serving alongside the Australian Defence Force at home and overseas.

Internationally we’ve teamed up with humanitarian organisations in the Solomon Islands and PNG and throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Our business stretches around the globe and we have offices in the US, Canada, the UK and the Middle East.

We’ve come a long way from two people sitting at a dining room table.

The main reason for our success is the quality, commitment and dedication

of our team. Our clients expect the highest level of service from us, innovative solutions and a ‘can do’ attitude. They expect us to deliver, no matter what. We’re the kind of people who get things done, wherever we’re needed.

There have been many highlights over the past ten years but there are two that stand out because it epitomises the core of what Aspen is about – that people are better because we are here. The first relates to a high profile case. When an assassination attempt was made on José Ramos Horta in East Timor in 2008 it was the Aspen team that operated on him for six hours and delivered him to the Royal Darwin Hospital. Ramos Horta was certainly better off because Aspen was on the ground, but so were the people of East Timor – their leader survived to guide them through their journey of independence. The second relates to an elderly lady in Craigavon in Northern Ireland. She had been waiting for two years to have a 20 minute cataract operation. She could no longer see clearly and relied heavily on her neighbours and friends to help her navigate the basics of everyday living; shopping, going to the post office and to the local Social Club. She was 5

Glenn Keys

one of the first patients we operated on as part of clearing a two year waiting list of ophthalmic surgery in Northern Ireland. Within days she was shopping for herself, and her spirits and confidence had lifted substantially.

She went into Christmas that year happier than she had been in ages.

Everyone at Aspen has a role in making a difference to the quality of life for thousands of people around the world every day. That’s what makes Aspen different, and it drives our commitment to achieving this for the next ten years and beyond.

Thanks to everyone, both in the Aspen team, and our customers, for trusting in us and helping us deliver our services, now and into the future.

Glenn Keys Managing Director

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

Wherever we’re needed.

After a patient was assessed at Dili National Hospital the Aspen In-Country Manager was on the phone to locate a plane to make the trip to Dili in order to undertake the aeromedical evacuation. Whilst Aspen has a network of planes on which to draw to support the troops in Dili, you never know which one will be available on the day.

The In-Country Manager is lucky. This time a plane is available in Darwin and they can be ready to make the 90 minute trip within the hour. The last time he had to organise an evacuation the only aircraft was in Perth.

Having sorted this out, the manager is on to the Darwin Ambulance service alerting them to the impending arrival of a patient in need of urgent medical treatment. There’s a problem though; there are no ambulances available to meet the helicopter in Darwin.

Throughout the hour and a half long flight, the Aspen manager calls everyone he can, trying to locate an ambulance, and then ensure their patient will be met on arrival. During one conversation someone on the other end of the phone asks the question, “Who is it?”

Clearly, they remembered when Aspen evacuated José Ramos Horta from Dili in February 2008. Perhaps the current patient was someone important? The response from the In-Country Manager was swift because it was clear. “It doesn’t matter who it is, we need an ambulance on arrival. This is a medical emergency.”

After multiple phone calls and liaison with the crew of the helicopter, the Aspen In-Country Manager was able to confirm that there would be an ambulance waiting at Darwin

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Introduction

“It doesn’t matter who it is, we need an ambulance on arrival. This is a medical emergency.”

Airport. The patient could be transferred immediately in safety.

While this emergency was underway, across the continent in Onslow, an hour north of Exmouth, WA, another aeromedical evacuation has just started. An oil rig worker has been knocked on the head by a piece of steel. The Aspen Project Manager calls his aeromedical evacuation team and they’re off – flying across northern West Australia to pluck the injured worker off the rig, stabilising him on the way.

Once in Exmouth, he is transported to Perth Hospital and operated on, all in under 4 hours.

As the day progresses, up in Cape York, an Aspen dentist is about to start their day in the dental clinic, providing dental care and hygiene instruction for the community in this remote part of Australia. A bit further south as the crow flies a Remote Area Health Corps (RAHC) doctor and registered nurse are working with a local aboriginal community providing much needed basic healthcare, expertise and public health programs.

Heading still further south, a Vaccination Van weaves its way through Sydney’s peak hour traffic, on the way to a City Rail Depot to

provide flu and other vaccinations to City Rail train drivers and staff.

And, while Australians are getting through their day, Aspen team members are finishing another day of Care of Battlefield Casualties training at Al Minhad, one hour north of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, to all Australian Defence Force personnel deploying to the Middle East.

Yet, another Aspen team is busy working in partnership with Abu Dhabi Police in the National Ambulance Company, providing private ambulance services for this Emirate.

While centred on the city of Abu Dhabi, the NAC has a much wider geographic area to cover than downtown; they cover the whole of Abu Dhabi.

No matter what time of day or night, no matter where in the world Aspen is working, and whoever the partner, Aspen is wherever they’re needed, and has been there now for over 10 years.

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ABOVE: José Ramos Horta, after the attempted assassination is loaded into an Australian Blackhawk helicopter having being treated at Aspen Medical’s facility in Dili.

LEFT: Aspen is working in support of Australia’s border protection activities on Thursday Island.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

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CHAPTER ONE:

We think ahead and see opportunities.

So how has an Australian company, started in 2003, become an international leader in the field of healthcare solutions, especially in remote and challenging environments?

How has Aspen grown to be a private company which employs over 2,200 people across multiple medical, administrative and logistics expertise, and working across more than 10 countries around the world?

With a lot of energy, entrepreneurial drive, talented and passionate people, a cando attitude, clear and strong values plus relentless drive from the founding CEO . . . just for starters.

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

“ Why don’t we try and do something together?”

This was the question Dr Andrew Walker asked his long time friend, Glenn Keys in early 2003.

The two had known each other since school days in Newcastle; Glenn had gone into the army whereas Andrew had entered university to study Medicine. Andrew, an Ex-Defence doctor and a serial entrepreneur, had started several businesses across a range of medical, service and consumer-related areas, and was always on the lookout for a new opportunity, and one had recently appeared in the UK. Glenn comments, “We kept in close touch over this time. We spent the Christmas holiday with each other’s families, I was his best man and vice versa, so when I was undertaking some engineering study leave in the army I asked to go to England. Andrew organised for me to stay at Oxford and it’s there I met Damian Griffin, a friend of Andrew’s.”

By the early 2000s Glenn told Andrew he was keen for a change. He had a young family to support and was in a secure job, but something was missing. He was not challenged, there were opportunities out there and he wanted to be part of them. “I was travelling with Raytheon and was transiting 10

through London so I called Damian to catch up. We met for dinner and Damian mentioned to me that the Blair Government was wanting to radically change the NHS and was looking for people from outside the NHS to come in and completely restructure the way surgical procedures were being undertaken and managed. With 1.3 million employees the NHS at this time was the third largest bureaucracy in the world, behind the Chinese Army and Indian Railways. Waiting lists for all types of procedures and surgery were in the thousands, and the waiting time for a procedure was in the years, not months. The Blair Government made it known it was looking for innovative solutions, and solutions that would be cost competitive.

“So I made the decision to leave my job and see if I could create a business with Andrew.

Andrew, who had been involved in retail medical businesses, understood the medical component of the challenge but didn’t have any experience in either the logistics component or the tendering process. Coming from the army I understood the logistics and tendering requirements and believed we could

Chapter One: We think ahead and see opportunities

provide a solution. It was a bit of a ‘burn the boats’ kind of decision for me.

“Damian had the idea of creating mobile surgeries and taking these around the country.

This could deliver the ‘additionality’ the NHS was looking for at no extra cost. To the three men this sounded like the perfect solution for a UK government looking to make some progress with the chronic waiting list issue in England. But this didn’t get much resonance inside the government.

ABOVE: Glenn Keys and Dr Andrew Walker, the founders of Aspen Medical.

Glenn and Andrew spent weeks throwing around different ideas, meeting with people across Europe, talking to people, testing other ideas and pitching yet others. As Andrew comments, “It was a bit like ploughing a field and throwing a whole bunch of seeds onto the ground and then seeing which ones germinated.” It was through this process they decided the only way to win business from the government was to secure a consultancy job. Glenn wrote the pitch and won the £400,000 tender, to develop a way for the UK government to solve the intractable and politically powerful surgical waiting list issue.

LEFT: Flight Nurse Matt Hughes treating a young Solomon Islander.

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

We can do that.

Once the consultancy was completed and delivered, the NHS reviewed the report and recommendations, then put tenders out to undertake the work. Aspen Medical won some of these tenders as a sub-contractor to Nuffield Hospitals. This involved delivering 5,000 hip and knee replacements, 7,000 orthopaedic procedures, and 5,000 out-patient procedures across 7 sites in 12 months. This was the real start of the business.

The initial mobile surgery concept was not part of the delivery but it would reappear when Aspen won the Solomon Islands project in 2004, hot on the heels of completing the UK contracts.

Aspen at this point was Glenn and Andrew, Grant Matthews and an office support person, Cailin Rupil. The ‘office’ was Glenn and Mel’s dining room table plus a converted storeroom on top of a local medical practice.

Aspen, having won a tender as part of the Nuffield Hospitals bid had to start delivering in two months. The pressure was on. Within days Glenn was back in Canberra and pulling together a team of people. Angela Cusack was bought on board as the HR Manager, initially she says for 2 months which ended up being five years. Annette Owttrim, and others followed in quick succession.

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The small Canberra office was ‘full-on’ recalls Cailin. “Glenn was almost this mystery man, because he’d come and go from the office in a whirlwind, always on the phone or in meetings, or planning meetings and meeting new contractors/employees. Our office wasn’t really an office, more like a converted storeroom which had been cleared out and 4 desks squeezed in.”

With the UK contract in place Angela Cusack came on board and was plunged in to what seemed like an insurmountable challenge: find the medical professionals to deliver the contract requirements within eight weeks. Coming from an HR background people management was second nature to Angela, but here she was dealing with the medical profession – a specialisation about which she knew nothing.

But that did not deter her, and she was quickly on the phone, all day and night given the time difference between Australia and the UK, identifying, speaking to and assessing potential specialists to fill the range of roles required.

The contract for Nuffield Hospitals covered seven different sites and was undertaken as part of the UK government’s Gsup1 project to demonstrate improvements in healthcare provision. Both the NHS and Nuffield Hospitals were also undergoing a restructure at this time, adding another layer of complexity for Aspen.

Chapter One: We think ahead and see opportunities

ABOVE: Dr Marcus Huettl, one of the first specialists contracted by Aspen in the UK, assists in the care of a young child in the Solomon Islands in 2008.

LEFT: Aspen team members at work clearing the Urology waiting list in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

“Glenn has a mission to bid on absolutely everything, and many of these tenders are enormous . . . several ring binders in size with multiple copies required and in a really short timeframe.”

Angela Cusack recalls spending the Xmas of 2004 sourcing, checking and placing the relevant contractors for these projects. Dr Mike Schaefer and Dr Marcus Huettl were early Aspen specialists who became a core part of the Aspen UK contract team.

Needless to say both Angela Cusack and Cailin Rupil didn’t have much sleep throughout 2004.

The logistics around the delivery of these projects, even now, is frightening to most.

Identify, contact and contract 30-40 surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and other medical staff; check their credentials (oh, and their degrees and certificates had to be approved by the NHS who were agonisingly slow in doing this); negotiate the terms of their contracts and get them signed, arrange all the travel, accommodation and day-to-day requirements for each team member; and ensure that the administration, quality and safety of patients is paramount at all times . . . under strict performance guidelines and at no extra cost to the government.

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Meanwhile, Glenn was flat out securing new tenders and writing them along with Annette Owttrim and Grant Matthews. (Glenn’s focus on tendering has become legendary within Aspen). As one colleague comments, “Glenn has a mission to bid on absolutely everything, and many of these tenders are enormous . . . several ring binders in size with multiple copies required and in a really short timeframe.”

Glenn’s wife, Mel, provides an interesting insight into this process. “There’s an immense time pressure on delivering tenders and Glenn is fastidious about the way tenders are presented and formatted. EVERY page is reviewed and reviewed again. In addition, the tender requirements more often than not require that 6-8 copies of the tender be submitted. When a tender response is 4-6 ring binder folders in length this resulted in pallets of paper being delivered to the office plus days of printing and assembling. It’s tough and timeconsuming work.”

Aspen had been launched. The concept, albeit it in a different form than what had originally been envisaged by Andrew and Glenn, was working. And so were the small team Glenn had assembled around him. Everyone involved at this time, and many are still with the company today, say these early days were intense and challenging. Just what some people like and respond to.

Chapter One: We think ahead and see opportunities

A new challenge/ opportunity While 2003 saw the formation of Aspen Medical and the company starting its first contracts in the UK. Across the globe, and much closer to Australia, significant events in the Solomon Islands had been unfolding.

In July 2003, in response to a request for international aid by the Governor General of the Solomon Islands, the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) was inaugurated. A significant security contingent of 2,200 police and troops, led by Australia (under the Australian Federal Police and Australian Defence Force, named Operation Anode) and New Zealand with representatives from 10 other Pacific nations began arriving in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands.

The purpose of the mission was to provide security, material and logistical assistance to police forces assisting the Solomon Islands Government in the restoration of law and order.

Naturally, RAMSI personnel, needed health, medical and surgical support. In a first for the Australian Defence Force, this essential

service was put out to tender and Aspen was involved with all but one of the prime contractors bidding.

Glenn recalls, “All the bidders went up to do a site survey so that they could complete their tenders. On getting back to Australia that night I literally ran off the plane and caught the last plane back to Canberra, rang Annette and we wrote the tender document in 36 hours nonstop. We came up with a raft of innovative solutions to things that no-one else had thought of. The department made a number of significant changes to the tender document

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ABOVE: AME Dr Nick Ryan performing a FAST Scan on a patient.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

“It was then a matter of, OK now we’ve won it how are we going to deliver it.

We had 8 weeks to ship the surgery up, stock it, staff it and have it fully functional. Annette, Grant, Cailin and I worked non-stop and we did it.”

which meant they re-tendered the project, incorporating some of our ideas, so we had to go through the process all over again.

BELOW: Aspen Honiarabased staff in 2006.

Stewart Reynolds (bottom right), Lolita Hughes (2nd row far left) and Les Wigfull (second row far right).

“We had to work through the Defence stores pricing list, a huge document and come up with a costing based on this. We pretty much worked flat out for 5 days and, when we made the presentation, we had all the other subcontractors on board, each person in the meeting had their own role in the presentation.

We came up with the ‘innovative’ solution of a mobile surgery. There happened to be one in NSW awaiting shipment back to the UK after a trial. I got a photo of this, had our graphic designer Photoshop the Aspen logo onto the side and then to put the mobile unit into a photo of the ADF’s base in the Solomon Islands.

“When I was making the presentation the Government financial representative attending asked me about our experience in delivering such a solution. Andrew, who was in the room as well looked at me and closed his folder, indicating he thought we didn’t have much hope of winning. I simply and clearly stated that what we were proposing had never been done before anywhere in the world and that it was an innovative yet highly cost and time effective solution. I then flicked to the photo of the mobile surgery in situ in the ADF Solomon Islands camp and everyone in the room started nodding . . . they got what we were proposing.

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Chapter One: We think ahead and see opportunities

Andrew opened up his folder again. We won the tender.

“It was then a matter of, OK now we’ve won it how are we going to deliver it. We had 8 weeks to get it operational, ship the surgery up, stock it, staff it and have it fully functional. Annette, Grant, Cailin and I worked non-stop and we did it.”

The medical services included a 10-bed ward, pharmacy and primary health services, dental services, pathology, an emergency department, a mobile surgical unit with radiology capability an operating room, an intensive care/recovery unit, environmental health services as well as an aeromedical evacuation and road ambulance retrieval capability.

Delivering this capability would be challenging enough in a standard hospital setting. To deliver this capability from a standing start in 8 weeks was nothing short of extraordinary . . . but the more you read through this story the more you’ll find this is what Aspen excels at.

As Annette Owttrim explains. “We had to purchase and organise everything. We had to buy the beds, laboratory, X-ray equipment, surgical equipment, air conditioning units, water filtration units, surgical gowns, all the drugs, plasma, blood, antiseptics . . . everything.

In addition we had to locate, screen, contract and transport ALL the medical and support staff required to deliver the medical care.

I didn’t sleep for 6 weeks and neither did many others on the team, but we had the view we could do it, must do it and simply had to deliver.”

Angela Cusack recalls that she needed to find a number of qualified doctors at short notice so she asked her network of friends and family and ‘located’ Dr John Howe, who was based in Tasmania. He was keen but had a commitment he needed to complete, so Angela had to find someone to fill the role until John was available. “John became a valued and regular doctor for Aspen on the Solomon Islands team and supported us in growing a network of doctors for this project,” comments Angela.

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ABOVE: An Aspen local clinic in the Solomon Islands, 2008.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

ABOVE: Aspen Medical Paramedics prepare one of their Ambulances for a visit to Origin Energy employees in Qld. LEFT: Dr Pat Nadiu (left), Steve Whan (back) and some of the East Timor AME Team.

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And deliver they did. The Aspen team members also delivered in a range of ways which have become a hallmark of the company to this day. From the outset, Aspen has had an organic and intimate concern, understanding of, and commitment to, the communities in which it operates. The Solomon Islands contract (which is on-going as of writing) is a great example of this. As Matt Hughes, a flight nurse for Aspen and then In-Country Manager for the Solomon Islands, comments. “We have a lot of locally employed staff we have trained in first aid and emergency response. There’s also a lot of downtime involved in such a role.

Whilst we need to be close to our facility, here in the Solomon Islands we have worked closely with the AFP to try and make a difference in terms of health outcomes for a wide range of remote communities.

“With the support of the AFP we would often travel to remote communities and make our medical expertise and advice available.

We’d turn up in a vehicle, meet with the local chief and offer our medical expertise to the community. We bring our medical expertise and equipment but we’d also bring colouring in books, balloons, pens, pencils and books for the children. We’d engage the community and clean scratches and cuts, fix up minor aliments which if left untreated, could become much more serious.”

Chapter One: We think ahead and see opportunities

Back in Australia For a company which started in Canberra and still has its head office in Deakin, its always had an international mindset, and is deeply committed to and embedded in Australia.

Throughout 2003 and 2004 much of Aspen’s work was outside Australia but in 2005 this was about to change. Aspen tendered for, and won the contract to deliver a complete package of healthcare services – from primary care to diagnostics, allied health, rehabilitation and secondary care – to the Australian Defence Force at Puckapunyal Military Area.

This was a first for the Australian Defence Force and there were plenty of doubters.

This contract was the first time the ADF had engaged a civilian contractor to undertake a service previously delivered within the ADF remit. The stakes were high on both sides.

The concept of contracting out services to an external contractor was a complete unknown for the ADF and challenged many of the accepted norms and processes within it.

For Aspen, responding to and delivering the contract was, to use a Defence Force term,

mission critical. As the winning tenderer they had to perform, not just for themselves on this contract but to prove the concept that contracting out certain services to private companies was a commercially smart decision AND that it worked. Glenn also commented, “We decided to take on the tender for Puckapunyal because it was the first complete healthcare centre on an army base in Australia to be tendered. We, Andrew, Grant, Annette and I, had a plan that we wanted to secure all the defence bases so we needed to be in the game and tender for this first one.

As it turns out, it took us 9 years to achieve that mission and now we’ve got a contract to deliver medical support to all defence bases in Australia.”

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ABOVE: Aspen team members training ADF staff at Puckapunyal Military Area.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

The lessons learnt from Aspen’s projects in the UK and the Solomon Islands were applied, along with a deep knowledge and concern for the health of ADF members, as well as the now usual level of ‘just get on and do it’ attitude.

The Puckapunyal Military Area project provided its own challenges. Situated in rural Australia and covering an enormous range of emergency response situations combined with a significant training component, meant a different type of solution and deliverables. It was a particular challenge for one of Aspen’s newest recruits, Amanda Fracaro. Having met Glenn in the Executive Lounge of Brisbane Airport for her initial interview, within four weeks she was working with Aspen. She recalls her first week as follows.

RIGHT: Dr Pat Nadiu (left), AME specialist, evacuating a casualty as part of joint training with the ADF.

“I started the day after Australia Day in 2005. The Puckapunyal tender was due and I basically worked non-stop till the end of January, when the tender was delivered, helping to write the tender. We secured the contract in April and by 27 May we were set up and operational in Puckapunyal. This meant finding, recruiting, checking, contracting and managing 30-40 staff into the facility. This came at a time when I was also developing a new payroll system, organising back-fill and other contractors for the Solomon Islands and much more.

“On the day of the official hand over, I was to be part of the ‘official party’. As it turned out I had 20

a medical issue which needed attending to so I was in the Aspen facility being cared for. That’s the way things go: I knew I was in good hands.”

Matt Hughes came back from the Solomon Islands to be the Project Manager at Puckapunyal and recalls it was a challenging project. “Puckapunyal is a remote facility 10km west of the town of Seymour (and east of Bendigo) in central Victoria and we had to manage a change in the culture in terms of the medical support services, from one of a Defence Force process to a private operator, performance target process. We were also implementing ISO quality assurance standards requiring processes and procedures which had to be delivered in a different way.

Managing this, as well as the human dynamics was challenging but the performance of Aspen showed ADF management and leadership that the private contractor model could and did work.”

2005 was a year of settling in for Aspen. Major projects were underway including wait-list surgery in the UK, ophthalmology and urology waiting list work in Northern Ireland, the Solomon Islands and in Australia. Still, the Glenn Keys ‘tender everything machine’ was unstoppable. Key employees in these early years constantly and independently refer to the force of nature which is Glenn. “There’s not a tender he won’t engage with,” says one colleague.

Chapter One: We think ahead and see opportunities

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

That said, Glenn is quick to explain he has “walked away from tenders we have won, and lost the money and time we’d invested because we assessed that the risks to the business and our staff were too high. It’s all about assessing the risks and making an informed decision.”

Aspen had achieved much in its first two years.

It had grown from 2 employees and 3 contractors in early 2003, working around of Glenn Keys’ dining room table into an international company with 8 employees and some 150-180 contractors across 4 projects. Most of the contractors were on a variety of short-term contracts ranging from 1 to 3 months with others ‘available’ at very short-term notice to fill a role. The flexibility and responsiveness of Aspen’s contractors was one of the key benefits for their clients and also a key selling point for Aspen, but the logistics and administrative capability required was the real test and real challenge for Aspen.

It was a challenge they met . . . and the Aspen team was nimble, creative, determined and persistent.

ABOVE: Tony Abbott, then Federal Minister for Health, and Glenn Keys at the official opening of Aspen’s Braddon office in Canberra in 2004.

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By this time Aspen even had a ‘new’ office.

In 2004 Aspen moved from the former storeroom into a ‘proper office’ just around the corner with an arrangement to share the boardroom with the other tenant when required. The move from one office to the other was a rather pedestrian affair in more

Chapter One: We think ahead and see opportunities

“Glenn has a mission to bid on absolutely everything, and many of these tenders are enormous . . . several ring binders in size with multiple copies required and in a really short timeframe.”

ways than one. As Cailin Rupil comments, “we literally, put our office files and the stuff on our desk in a box on our chairs and rolled the lot down the footpath to our new offices a few streets down the block.”

Grant Matthews comments that he was particularly proud of the new offices, especially when their first visitors were representatives of the ATO. “The Aspen Medical decal had, literally, just been affixed to the glass door of our office, when the ATO representatives knocked on the door. I was rather pleased to greet them and take them into “our” boardroom. The boardroom was leased by the ACT Division of the Labor Party and had a photograph of every Labor leader mounted along the walls. To this day, I am not sure what our guests thought of it all, but the moment was not lost on me.”

For the Aspen team, as it was at this time, they could well be forgiven for thinking the fastpaced style of the business was a function of its ‘start-up’ nature. As one employee commented, “We were in the ‘build as you go’ stage. Get the contracts and then work like anything to deliver, and always deliver the best.”

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There were plenty of projects to work on, healthcare specialists to find, check, contract and manage plus challenging work environments, different cultures to understand, from both a geographic perspective and a managerial one. Aspen had secured a major contract to provide personnel to Shepton Mallet Treatment Centre in the UK plus another contract in Northern Ireland to clear Ophthalmology and Urology wait-list work.

The end of 2005 saw the employment of specialist administrative and managerial people and the beginning of the development of a range of systems and processes. Delivering contracted medical services to governments and private companies was and is a complex, critical and exacting task. One misstep, one ‘bad’ placement or judgement could be fatal, both literally and for the business.

As Christmas 2005 was approaching, the Aspen team could feel rightly proud of their achievements and excited about the future possibilities. Still, Aspen was working in a new space, that of the contracting out of government and defence medical care and health deliverables. It was new territory for the principals and contractors. There were tenders which Glenn and the team were working on, as always, and the future looked positive.

Little did anyone expect what 2006 held.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

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CHAPTER TWO:

A ‘can do’ attitude.

At the start of 2006 Glenn had built a core team of people focused on delivering Aspen’s services across Australia, the UK, Northern Ireland, and the Solomon Islands.

Grant Matthews, who had started in April 2004 was now Commercial Director. Annette Owttrim was working constantly on business development and tenders with Angela Cusack and Amanda Fracaro supporting her and developing HR systems and processes. Craig Fitzgerald, who had started as In-Country Manager in the Solomon Islands in August 2005 had become Group Operations Manager and Matt Hughes, who had started as a team member in the Solomon Islands had also moved through the ranks as a Project Manager in the Solomon Islands, then as Project Manager at Puckapunyal then Caboolture Hospital’s Emergency Department. Stewart Reynolds joined in March 2006 and quickly worked his way through the Solomon Islands and Puckapunyal projects.

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

Caboolture – a very public project

interesting in talking to them about how we could assist in re-opening the facility.

The Caboolture Hospital Emergency Department project was a departure for Aspen and was only tendered for after considerable discussion between Glenn and the team. Glenn Keys recalls how the project came about.

“The Caboolture project came about through a phone call I received from a representative of Queensland Health. Caboolture Emergency Department was not functioning. Management and the doctors had fallen out so much that they weren’t speaking to each other and the nursing and support staff were all caught in the crossfire. Ambulances were bypassing it because of the lack of proper service and care.

“I was staying overnight in Brisbane on my way to the Solomon Islands and at 10am the next morning, the Acting Minister for Health for the Queensland Government held a press conference outside the Caboolture Emergency Department announcing its closure. On the same day a traffic accident occurred right behind him and outside the Hospital Grounds.

Two severely injured people were evacuated past Caboolture Emergency Department to Redcliffe Hospital, several kilometres away.

By that afternoon I had received a call from Queensland Health asking me if we were 26

“I said I could meet but it would need to be at 4am the following day as I transited through Brisbane International Airport on my way back from the Solomons. Their representatives met me with a coffee and pastry and we spent 2 hours discussing the issues.

“By the time I landed in Canberra, I had pulled everyone in the Aspen team into a meeting.

I said to everyone, “I need all of you to apply your thoughts to how we’re going to fix this.

The group divided into teams to develop solutions and then we reconvened. We worked through each team’s ideas, brainstormed them and came up with a whole range of solutions and ideas.

“The project had to go to tender, and we won it.

“On the day of the hand-over I was introduced to the Queensland Health team by the department head, who then promptly left me to take it from there. I worked for a week and a half with all the people, then Andrew came in and took over because I had to go overseas for a week. It was full on. We had 6 weeks to get the Emergency Department open till 11pm again, then another 2 weeks to have it operational 24 hours a day.”

The risks associated with Aspen taking on the project were significant because it was

Chapter Two: A ‘can do’ attitude

“This was not only a good outcome for Aspen, but a great outcome for the community around Caboolture, because they had a facility which delivered a higher standard of accessible healthcare to more people.

This had, and still has, significant benefit to both individuals and the community.”

a highly public project and the first time the Queensland Government had contracted out a public emergency department. Some in the community as well as Queensland Health were totally opposed to this model and there were demonstrations outside the hospital plus and numerous public meetings and press conferences.

As Matt Hughes, the Project Manager for Caboolture comments, “The reality was the Caboolture Emergency Department was not functioning. Ambulances were bypassing it and the hospital had lost its accreditation with emergency physicians. Community pressure on the government forced it to find a solution to re-open it. Aspen was contracted to re‑establish the capability and capacity of the Emergency Department, and we had to have it operating 24/7 within just a few weeks of taking over the contract.

“Within 18 months we had the Emergency Department fully operational and fully accredited. We looked at everything from patient flow, doctors consulting practices, training, facilities and equipment. Nurse practitioners were introduced, freeing up the doctors to see the more serious and/or acute patients. This required a major shift in thinking by the nurses, doctors and support staff but we worked through it and we delivered.

“This was not only a good outcome for Aspen, but a great outcome for the community around Caboolture, because they had a facility which delivered a higher standard of accessible healthcare to more people. This had, and still has, significant benefit to both individuals and the community.”

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PREVIOUS PAGE: Aspen paramedics care for a Solomon Island local in 2008.

ABOVE LEFT: The Caboolture Emergency Department team with Project Manager, Matt Hughes (far right).

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

East Timor flares up again ABOVE: Andy Stone, (far right), Aspen InCountry Manger, Timor Leste takes José Ramos Horta through Aspen Medical’s facility in Dili.

TOP: Aspen Paramedic, East Timor, 2007.

MIDDLE LEFT: Silvia Hillas, Primary Health Care Nurse.

MID RIGHT: Craig Short (far right) consulting with military and other staff at Puckapunyal Military Base, 2008.

BOTTOM: Aspen Medical Scientist.

In May 2006 the ADF was planning a major surge response for East Timor. Although the ADF had been in East Timor since 1999 at the request of the then Prime Minister, civil unrest was increasing. A few weeks prior to the surge Amanda Fracaro and Angela Cusack were playing their weekly Saturday netball game. When they came off the court both had multiple messages from Glenn informing them of the job Aspen had been charged with; get a team of medical support staff and a mobile medical facility up and running in Timor within 4 weeks. Amanda and Angela went straight from their netball game into the office and started working. Amanda finished up at 4am, went home, showered and changed then headed to the airport – not for Timor in her case but to the Torres Strait where she had a planned visit to complete.

As Annette comments, “Timor was, in a way, easier for us to deliver because we already had the experience of a similar project in the Solomon Islands. That said, we only had four weeks to set up and be operational.

Annette and Angela went to work pulling together everything which was needed.

It was clear that by now Aspen had earned its stripes in terms of its capacity and performance

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“As with the Solomon Islands we had to establish a Field Hospital unit from scratch.

We literally had to source everything from the most basic things such as office chairs and pens, through to sourcing, purchasing and commissioning a laboratory, X-ray machine, air-conditioning units and vents, beds, trays, surgical equipment, bandages, ambulances . . . everything. And then there was sourcing and contracting the specialists and getting them onto the ground in Timor. We didn’t get much sleep for three weeks and it was hard on all our families.

Chapter Two: A ‘can do’ attitude

for the ADF. This was a significant achievement for the company, and one that has been an on-going and important part of the company’s growth, both in Australia and internationally.

This said, the opportunities for Aspen were much broader than the ADF and Glenn, along with Grant Matthews, Annette and Angela were constantly looking for new opportunities and tendering for new projects.

Throughout 2007 Aspen secured a wide range of projects which included providing Health Teams for Customs at Horne Island and Weipa in Queensland; dental services for prisons within the jurisdiction of the Justice Department in NSW; a transition management plan for the merger of Mersey Community Hospital and Burney Hospitals in Tasmania; and two projects for the ADF undertaking some of the initial aeromedical evacuation contracts, one in Mount Bundey, near Humpty 29

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

RIGHT: Local girls, Ampilwatja, Northern Territory.

Doo in the Northern Territory and the other at Timber Creek, also in the Northern Territory.

A significant contract win was the tender for Albury-Wodonga Military Area (AWMA) which comprised two main Australian Army bases housing 500 permanent staff with 6,000 trainees attending courses throughout the year.

Angela Cusack recalls a 36-hour stint working through the final Request for Tender document for the Albury project, then having a couple of strong coffees and sitting with Glenn to interview the short list of General Manager candidates they had arranged to see. Their hard work paid off.

Aspen was contracted to deliver all health services at AWMA, one of only two ADF sites in Australia at the time, where the complete health services are contracted out to a civilian contractor.

The scope of this project included primary care to diagnostics (pathology and radiology) allied health (such as pharmacy and physio) rehabilitation and secondary care. In addition, Aspen had to deliver general practice dental services, specialist outpatient services, administration of all inpatient services and low dependency care services.

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Chapter Two: A ‘can do’ attitude

Reaching out to remote communities in Australia In 2007 the Australian Federal Government launched a major program, The Northern Territory National Response to target a range of welfare, law enforcement, land tenure and child abuse issues in remote Aboriginal communities. While there was significant political and community debate around the nature and type of actions undertaken the key focus on child health and welfare outcomes was at the heart of the program.

A key part of the initiative was to expand the delivery of primary health services in the Northern Territory, especially in remote Aboriginal communities. Prior to the Government’s National response Aspen had delivered services to a number of Aboriginal and remote programs for the Queensland Government including providing GPs to support the Townsville Aboriginal Health Service (TAHS) and a range of medical professionals to QAIHC (Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council). Through working closely with remote communities Aspen gained the trust of, and learnt much about the special

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

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Chapter Two: A ‘can do’ attitude

“By delivering this, RAHC has changed the delivery of health services to Aboriginal communities, and children specifically, greatly.” cultural dynamics from these communities.

As a result Aspen was in a unique position to provide the health professionals who had the agreement of many communities and specific cultural and community training.

To deliver this highly specialised professional medical support Aspen formed the Remote Area Health Corps (RAHC) to supplement the recruitment efforts of the Northern Territory health services and to develop a broader pool of health professionals to deliver the much needed primary healthcare services.

Lisa Studdart was appointed as the General Manager of RAHC in February 2009 and recalls that, “winning the RAHC project was a significant milestone for the company. It was the first non-military contract for Aspen and involved a completely different mindset in terms of how Aspen delivered its services.

“Dealing with a community controlled sector and key organisations such as the NT Department of Health, Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT) and Council of Remote Area Nurses Australia (CRANA) required building relationships and real partnerships rather than a top-down military command and control structure.

In addition, it was the first time that a private company from Canberra (as opposed to notfor-profit, NT based organisation) had been awarded such a contract so there was a degree of scepticism and negativity about how we

could perform the task . . . even if we could.

On top of this, our appointment came hot on the heels of the NT Intervention, and here we were a company of largely ex-military people.

“Fortunately, I had worked in this area before some years prior and understood the dynamics of working in a community controlled sector, and I had some good contacts as well.”

Philip Roberts, the second General Manager of RAHC provides some additional insight.

“It became clear very early on in the Intervention that mandatory child health checks weren’t working because they were almost impossible to implement on the ground. There was such a shortage of health and medical professionals that regular and consistent healthcare was simply not possible. As a result it there was very little measurable improvement in the health of Aboriginal children.

“In essence, RAHC is a program designed to increase the pool of urban-based health professionals who are available to work in Indigenous communities by attracting, recruiting and orienting them, then providing ongoing support and training to successfully assist the health professional to make the transition to remote practice.

“By delivering this, RAHC has changed the delivery of health services to Aboriginal communities, and children specifically, greatly.

The challenge for us was to deliver primary healthcare in a low resource setting with a group 33

ABOVE: RAHC health professional caring for Courtney Armstrong, an Imanpa, NT Community member.

TOP LEFT: An Aspen Registered Nurse undertakes a health check of an Elcho Island community member.

TOP RIGHT: Ampilwatja Elders.

BOTTOM LEFT: 2009 Ampilwatja children at play.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Ampilwatja Health Centre, one of the communities serviced by the Remote Area Health Corps (RAHC) operated by Aspen.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

of people who have a fundamentally different cultural view about what makes them sick and how sickness is viewed and managed. One of the first and most important elements for us was to gain a greater understanding of how these communities worked, their social and cultural customs and how we could integrate with these.

Clearly, the key deliverables were to source, train, support and transport healthcare professionals to these communities then create a safe and positive environment for them to deliver the much-needed healthcare.

Since RAHC was established we’ve placed over 2,200 healthcare professionals in remote communities and we’ve started to stabilise, and in some cases advance the health outcomes of children and their families.”

When looking back at the success of RAHC Lisa Studdert comments that, “over the period that Aspen has been delivering the program we’ve transitioned from being strangers to being understood, respected and welcomed. Some of our professionals have created enduring relationships with the communities they have worked in, on a deeply personal level, and the communities genuinely welcome them as part of the community.”

RIGHT: Ampilwatja community children playing a game of Aussie Rules.

INSET: Registered Nurse, Aaron Richardson one of the longer-term RAHC team members.

Philip Roberts comments that, “What has humbled me is the support and understanding we’ve received from the urban health professionals who have signed up for the work we do. Delivering healthcare in remote communities challenges a lot about how healthcare is actually delivered. For starters, the equipment, clinics and access to some of the most basic health requirements are very limited. It’s vital that these healthcare professionals have an openness and 34

willingness to learn and engage with local community customs.”

“For example, in these remote settings doctors need to be real team players rather than the person directing from above. All Aspen professionals are trained in the unique cultures of each community which makes their working environment safe and means the communities themselves are more willing and supportive of the work we do. We’ve built up a suite of these community overviews and they have been invaluable in terms of ensuring our work in these communities is as effective and efficient as it can be.”

Aspen has been working across 90 remote communities over the past five years and has a team of 17 people across Darwin, Alice Springs and Canberra to support the selection, training, movement and support of the GPs, oral health and allied health professionals it provides for this program.

As Philip Roberts comments, “I am always humbled by the resilience of the health professionals who work in RAHC. They get out there and take on whatever is put in front of them, and have an open, engaged attitude to the communities in which they work. We’re having a profound influence on the quality of people’s lives and that’s rewarding for everyone. Being able to deliver sustained programs across general health, ear, oral and eye health means we’re finally getting on top of a whole range of really basic health issues for the children and others in these communities. We do this in partnership with the communities and through a strong commitment to respecting the values and importance of the key stakeholders.”

Chapter Two: A ‘can do’ attitude

“ They say sand gets in your blood when you come out here and I think it’s very true.”

Aaron Richardson I started out with RAHC taking on a short-term remote nursing placement at Ampilatwatja in 2009 and I am now the Clinical Co-ordinator for Central Australia and the Barkly region.

The work is enormously rewarding, and we’re helping in a really tangible way to close the gap in Indigenous health outcomes in the Northern Territory. The people and communities which I have come to know are amazing.

We are often dealing with a range of complex issues both from a cultural and health perspective.

Many of the diseases we are treating in these communities have not only been eradicated but are extremely rare in the urban populations of Australia. For example, scabies is a huge health issue in these communities and, left untreated, can cause significant and life-threatening problems later on in life.

Most people are totally unaware of this, yet scabies is prevalent in the communities in which I work. We also deal with rheumatic heart disease, again a disease that is largely non-existent in the urban population.

We are dealing with a lot of what many would call third world diseases in a first world country, so that takes some time not only to come to terms with but to then get on and deal with.

I love living and working in remote and Indigenous communities.

I have had the privilege of seeing the real Australia and starting, just starting, to understand parts of it. It’s incredibly beautiful and inspiring and, at the same time challenging. To be in a part of the world which is so remote and so vast and to feel alone, yet know you’re not alone but fortunate to be part of a story that is ancient and to witness this is quite extraordinary and a real privilege.

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

A seriously rewarding experience Dr John Adams

Dr John Adams has spent the last two years undertaking placements with RAHC in Ti Tree in the Northern Territory, some 280 kilometres north of Alice Springs. John started working for RAHC after retirement from general practice having heard about the organisation from a colleague at a reunion.

“I realised even though I’d had quite a few jobs before which had included Indigenous health, I was very much in the dark on a lot of Indigenous issues. I’ve worked in the Ti Tree clinic for two weeks, every two months, for the past two years.

“RAHC is making a real contribution to improving Indigenous health through continuity of care in the communities. For me personally, RAHC has made a positive contribution to my knowledge with regard to working in Indigenous health and this has given me the confidence to keep going back.”

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Chapter Two: A ‘can do’ attitude

International expansion and diversification While RAHC was being established in the Northern Territory, Glenn and the team were also busy developing a presence in the United States, delivering a range of new projects in Australia and also providing different medical support services in the Asia Pacific region.

LEFT: Dr John Adams, one of many doctors who has undertaken several placements as part of RAHC.

The United States’ opportunity came about through one of those now familiar networking links. Dr Tom Crabtree, a former specialist in the US Military had been working independently on the concept of pulling together medical teams to deliver remote healthcare solutions.

Tom, based in Hawaii, was all but ready to launch his venture when introduced to Glenn and Andrew. A day-long meeting with Glenn in Chicago Airport convinced Tom that teaming up with the fast-growing Aspen team was an opportunity too good to pass up. As Tom recalls, “Meeting Glenn and Andrew in Aspen’s head office in Canberra was a bit like a young techie getting the opportunity to meet Steve Jobs. It was like I was meeting with the gurus of contracted healthcare services and I was the bright ‘not so young’ guy with a new, well thought out business opportunity.”

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The first major project for Aspen USA was partnering with CACI, a US Department of Defense contractor, to deliver health security personnel as part of their contract for the US Department of Defense Centre for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance. Part of this was involvement with the US Pacific Command and involved the planning and execution of all stand-alone health security programs across the Asia Pacific region.

The delivery of subject matter expertise in health security programs, training and execution has become an important part of Aspen’s overall offering and continues to be an important part of Aspen USA’s unique solutions. It has also enabled Aspen to build up its partnership with the US Department of Defense and support a complex process of certification and licenses, to enable it to compete for US Department of Defense work.

As with other programs and projects across Aspen the importance of developing strong and solid relationships based on high-quality performance and delivery has been, and will remain, vital for Aspen USA’s growth.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

Taking to the air

ABOVE: Aspen’s first aircraft, a Cessna Citation 560 Series.

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Around this time Aspen started to develop an Aeromedical Evacuation (AME) offering.

Grant Matthews explains how this came about.

“AME is a great example of how we think ahead and seek opportunities. We initiated the idea to engage the ADF about undertaking their aeromedical evacuations while on deployment in Horne Island, Mount Bundey and Timber Creek. They reviewed our proposal and, given our performance with other ADF contracts and the benefits of our proposal, accepted it. So, we went out and leased a helicopter and aircrew, staffed it with the necessary paramedics and doctors and launched our first AME service. Not long after, we leased a Beech King Air and serviced the Royal Australian Navy while they were operating in the Kiribati then won an AME contract with the ADF in Northern Australia, and with the United Nations in East Timor. Little did the Aspen team know at the time their team on the ground in Timor as well as the AME team were about to face one of their most challenging assignments.

Chapter Two: A ‘can do’ attitude

Caught in the middle of a potential civil war “The morning of 11 February 2008 started like most others in Dili,” recounts one of Aspen’s Managers at the time, Gio Tatti. “The Aspen team, like many other contractors lived in a local hotel. Due to the fragile military situation in Dili, we had limited access to vehicles and went to our facility in a small convoy most days. We were all down at breakfast about 7.15am when I got a call to say there had been a shooting and we were needed at the Aspen medical facility immediately. We didn’t have much more information than that.”

“When we got to the medical facility, we discovered it was José Ramos Horta who had been shot. He’d been delivered to our facility by the para-militaries, who had foiled an assassination attempt on his life. Our trauma teams set up and went to work on him for several hours. He was in a critical state.

“While the trauma teams worked on him I was busy co-ordinating the security cordon around the facility and liaising with the civilian and military authorities. The city was in lock-down, and as news about what happened to José leaked out, various civilian officials and family

members were trying to get to his bedside.

It was an intense, flat-out and totally exhausting day.

“Once we stabilised him the ADF evacuated him out to the Darwin Hospital. Our team had done an amazing job.” On Ramos Horta’s arrival in Darwin, the doctors listed his condition as critical but stable. He was placed on full life support, underwent several operations and regained consciousness on 21 February.

There was still plenty for the Aspen team to do because the fallout from the assassination attempt meant an additional surge capacity of 120 more soldiers and 20 policemen were sent in from Australia. As Gio recalls. “Our team operated under a strict curfew regime and

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ABOVE: José Ramos Horta speaking with local Timorese Aspen employees.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

“The UN and/or ISF representative would send us a formal request for assistance and we’d follow through. It could mean assisting with a difficult childbirth or a car accident, anything really that needed a medical team.”

went everywhere under military escort. It was a very distorted way of living, and the Aspen team became a very close-knit group. We supported the soldiers and many civilians as well. I was very proud of our team and we were all very conscious that we were supporting young Australian soldiers who were putting their lives on the line.

“As mentioned, we also helped the local population on numerous occasions. The UN and/or ISF representative would send us a formal request for assistance and we’d follow through. It could mean assisting with a difficult childbirth or a car accident, anything really that needed a medical team.”

An interesting, but important part of Aspen’s work in East Timor occurred when José Ramos Horta returned to Timor after his recovery in Australia. He personally presented the Timor Solidarity Medal to all the Aspen staff involved in his care and evacuation, the first time any civilians had been awarded such an honour.

To this day those Aspen team members who were presented with the medal remain proud, but humble, about it.

While the AME teams and In-Country Managers were focused on their jobs across East Timor, the Solomon Islands, RAHC, Puckapunyal, the Albury-Wodonga Military Area and numerous smaller projects, the Aspen team back at headquarters was growing and expanding to meet the diverse needs of the company’s now 100 staff and contractors.

ABOVE: Aspen’s Executive Team in 2012.

From left to right: Philip Roberts, Tareq Rahman, Glenn Keys, Grant Matthews, Annette Owttrim, Dr James Ross, Matt Hughes and Mark Ellis.

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Chapter Two: A ‘can do’ attitude

The support team grows In early 2008 Paul Ekin-Smyth joined Aspen as General Manager. As Paul recounts, “Aspen was a very young and entrepreneurial company when I joined. It was still quite embryonic in a way but growing very rapidly.

Glenn was at full stretch seeking, and very successfully winning, new business. He, Andrew Walker and Angela Cusack particularly, recognised that if the company was going to grow and step-up in terms of its revenue and profitability the company needed someone to come and build, develop and implement a whole range of systems and processes.

The entrepreneurial flair and talent of Glenn needed to be supported with a strong and robust organisational structure. So that’s what I did. It was about getting the balance right.

“The company was great at winning tenders and it was running fast to deliver them.

There was incredible energy in the company but every day was demanding. Everyone was running around at top speed day and night to make sure project deliverables and target were achieved. It was both a strength and a weakness.”

Tareq Rahman, who had joined Aspen in 2006 as the Finance Manager comments

that, “By 2008 we were working hard to build and improve the systems and procedures of the company to better manage its increasing size, complexity and specific issues relating to clinical governance.”

Amanda Fracaro was developing a new payroll system, standardising the employment contracts, and there were hundreds of them to cover the whole range of specialities which Aspen needed to deliver its contracts. She was also still handling the bulk of the recruitment processes for the major international projects, a task that was, by this time, far beyond the scope of the two or three people who were managing this, so the HR team was growing and changing shape.

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ABOVE: Glenn Keys and Group Captain Mark Leatham signing the ADF AME contract in 2008.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

A critical appointment was that of Dr James Ross who commenced in late October 2008. While Aspen had always had a Clinical Director in Annette Owttrim the appointment of a Medical Director was yet another step in the growth and increasing sophistication of the company. Whilst the company had always had strong credentialing processes for its staff Dr Ross started to implement a highly structured and formal credentialing process, as part of his role in developing a clear and rigorous clinical governance program.

As Dr Ross comments, “the active management of patient safety and risk management is essential for good patient outcomes.

It’s absolutely critical for our business to minimise the risks associated with delivering medical, surgical and primary healthcare services, in fact all the services we provide.

This is what the credentialing system and processes is all about. In addition, developing clear clinical governance guidelines ensures procedural fairness and due process are followed when there are issues of a clinical, management or performance nature.”

ABOVE LEFT: Aspen team members at work at the Albury Dental Clinic.

ABOVE RIGHT: The Aspen Head Office Team in 2008.

BELOW LEFT: Sharon Gibbard, one of Aspen’s Registered Nurses who works as part of the RAHC team.

BELOW RIGHT: Training the team in Huet helicopter underwater escape.

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An added benefit to the company of a clearer and increasingly complete clinical governance structure was that it meant Aspen could demonstrate to medical and health professionals the company was highly professional, and supported its staff with the best systems, training, insurance protection and management skills. This in turn attracted high-quality contractors and led to an even higher retention rate with its contractors.

Chapter Two: A ‘can do’ attitude

LEFT: Bechtel’s Onslow, WA Construction Village. above: Project Manager Gary Robertson far right), Dr Ramsey Jabbour (sitting front left) and the Aspen Onslow site team.

The company was clearly building a sustainable, profitable business model which could, and did, deliver the best quality medical support to remote, challenging and even relatively simple contracts around the world. Yet, there was plenty of opportunity for growth . . . and Aspen was out there looking for it.

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

44

CHAPTER THREE:

A focus on delivery.

With dozens of projects underway across Australia, the UK and the Pacific the business development team and key executives were constantly on the move and seeking out new opportunities. Leading the charge, as always, was Glenn Keys, the entrepreneurial, driven, co-founder of Aspen. As Grant Matthews comments, “You don’t ever get much sleep working with Glenn and he’s a tender junkie, it’s just the way it is.” And the energy, vitality and capacity to see opportunities or take up ideas or concepts presented by others, was propelling Aspen’s growth across Australia and into other countries throughout 2009-2011.

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

Territory as well as on-going work with the US Pacific Command in public health security.

The business development team kept up the pace and were actively exploring new opportunities in the UK, the USA, Canada and the UAE – with some of these potential projects coming to fruition in 2010/11.

ABOVE: Aspen AME team with Dr Doug McKenzie (far left) and Aspen staff on the ground in Western Australia supporting the ADF. PREVIOUS PAGE: Desert Care of Battle Casualty training at Al Minhad, UAE.

Among other new projects on which Aspen was working was providing paramedic support for Goldridge Mining in the Solomon Islands; complete medical support for the World Transplant Games on the Gold Coast, Queensland, all at a time when Swine Flu was creating panic across the world; Obstetric Specialists to the Gove District Hospital in the Northern Territory, health clinic staff to the Ngalkanbuy Health Clinic in Elcho Island, top end Northern Territory plus Pharmaceutical supply and the Biomedical Supply Servicing and Training in East Timor for the UN. Of course, most of the existing projects were on-going so Aspen had a presence in the UK, Solomon Islands, East Timor, and remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern 46

In Australia, Grant Matthews was spending a significant amount of his time on what was to become known as the WARAME project, the West Australian Resources Aero Medical Evacuation Service. As Grant comments, “This was a long lead time project I worked on for over three years, between 2006-09, and it started with an idea I had in the shower, literally. Over this period I met with a range of oil and gas companies and APPEA, the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association, with a view to showing them how we could streamline and enhance the health logistics services of the oil and gas industry on the North-West Shelf in Western Australia.

“We proposed that Aspen provide both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft, AME qualified medical teams, road ambulance transports, a 24/7 call centre and integration into the 71 Western Australian country health hospitals and 3 major Perth Hospitals. If the companies involved in the North-West Shelf were able to come together as a consortium, we could deliver a superior service.”

Chapter Three: A focus on delivery

This sounds relatively straight-forward when summarised as above but, as Grant Matthews comments, “Working through the tendering and final contracting for the WARAME project is the most challenging thing I have done with Aspen.

It took 4 to 5 weeks to write and it ended up being 4 phone books in size, took about 5 months for the final decision to be made and then 12 months to negotiate and finalise the contract.

“Finalising the contract was immensely challenging. I was dealing with 6 separate oil and gas companies from different countries, with competing liability issues. There were 7 lawyers on one side and me on the other.

Several people told me I wouldn’t be able to get it done and at times I wondered. But we got there and we hope to be expanding this to include another 6 companies in and around Darwin in the near future.”

And ‘getting there’, involves a wide range of medical professionals, doctors, intensive care paramedics, support staff and management.

As Grant Matthew recalls, “I remember the first mission we did after winning the contract.

It was a serious case of a rig diver who had been stung on the face by an irukandji jellyfish. We recovered him from the water by helicopter and he was treated en-route by our guys. He was in a life-threatening state several times on the flight, but we managed to get him safely to the Emergency

“I remember the first mission we did after winning the contract. It was a serious case of a rig diver who had been stung on the face by an irukandji jellyfish. We recovered him from the water by helicopter and he was treated en-route by our guys.”

Department of Perth Hospital. The team was given commendations from the receiving physicians who said it was the first time they had been able to effectively treat someone in such a condition who had arrived from so far away. Usually they were DOA. That’s pretty fulfilling work.

Then, the second mission we had was a guy who had a heart attack while working on Barrow Island. On his AME flight to the hospital he had several more heart attacks, but he survived.”

“Another mission was really dangerous and involved retrieving a patient at 3am in the morning. He had been hit by a 2 ton crane hook that had cracked open his head. Our contract stated we had to deliver him to the hospital within 4 hours, but more importantly, there’s a golden hour for treatment which significantly increases the outcome prospects for patients. So there we were at 3am in the morning achieving this rescue. This was made more challenging by the fact we were technically not meant to fly at night so I was negotiating special clearance for this to happen.”

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ABOVE: Andrew Walker and Glenn Keys either side of a banner at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Awards 2006 at which they won the Entrepreneur of the Year.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

Another positive outcome from the work Aspen does with WARAME is the support it provides to the local communities in this remote part of Australia. At another Aspen base in Onslow, Aspen provides back-up support for the local hospital as they don’t have a resident doctor. When there’s an emergency the Aspen team will help out.

It also assists with medical emergencies in the remote communities surrounding it, freeing up the Royal Flying Doctor Service to attend to more communities on a more frequent basis.

Just how remote is remote?

Working in remote locations across Western Australia is challenging for those on the ground. Gary Robertson, the current Project Manager for Bechtel explains. “The 30 or so paramedics we contract work on a 2 week on, 2 week off cycle. They live in dongas (transportable, single-room dwellings) and have their own ambulance which is equipped with the key medical provisions they need. As they are intensive care trained paramedics they are able to intubate and can prescribe some medications without a GP referral.

While the WARAME team support the North‑West Shelf projects in Western Australia, another team was involved in a special project, the Pacific Malaria Initiative in the Solomon Islands which was partly funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

This connection to the communities in which it operates is a continuing hallmark of Aspen Medical.

“These guys work a 12 hour shift and are on-call 24 hours. While working, they have to follow our no alcohol policy and they can never be more than half an hour from their ambulance in case of an emergency. So it’s hard work, but also rewarding.”

As part of the Bechtel project, Aspen operates a health service from Onslow.

The project team includes a doctor, nurse practitioner, the paramedics, a health administration officer and project manager. This team provides comprehensive health services for the construction worker population of about 13,000 people and currently handle about 1,200 clinic presentations each month.

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LEFT: An Aspen ambulance makes its way through the Outback close to Imanpa in the Northern Territory.

Chapter Three: A focus on delivery

Pacific Islands Malaria Initiative This malaria eradication project was funded by a combination of sources including The World Fund, Solomon Islands Health Department, University of Queensland, Australian Army Malaria Institute, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others. Aspen was involved through providing all the logistics support and Andy Stone was the leader of the logistics team. This meant living on a boat for 6 weeks as they travelled to islands around the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands. Sir David Attenborough describes this area one of the most isolated places on the planet.

“During this project we’d turn up at an island and get into a boat, dug-out canoe or whatever was available to land on the island. We’d then trek through the jungle to find the village, meet the chief and explain what we were doing.

The village chief would blow into a giant seashell and then soon after, all the villagers would come. We’d then take a blood sample and other information to work out the prevalence of malaria and distribute mosquito nets and other items to assist in combatting and treating malaria.

TOP RIGHT: Andy Stone at work during the Malaria Eradication program in the Solomon Islands in 2008.

MIDDLE: Locals welcome the Malaria Eradication team on to their remote island in the Solomon Islands.

BOTTOM LEFT: One of the many active volcanoes that dot the Solomon Islands.

BOTTOM RIGHT: The boat that took the Malaria Eradication team throughout the remote Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands for 6 weeks.

“It was extremely rewarding work. Many of the island populations had never seen a white person before, let alone the medicines or spraying equipment and other items we came with. Knowing we were helping these communities combat a disease that they had no ability to fight was extremely rewarding. We visited about a dozen Islands, screened thousands of people and saved many lives.”

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

Changing lives for the better The ‘hard-wired’ passion of Aspen employees and contract team members was highlighted again at the end of 2009, when the tsunami hit, among other places, the Solomon Islands.

Solomon Islands and the Tsunami “When I first went to the Solomon Islands, after winning the tender to implement our services, I asked what plans were in place in the event there was a tsunami. To me it was a simple and logical question given where the Solomon Islands were . . . in the middle of a high-risk geographic area of earthquakes. Everyone just looked at me and laughed, that event wasn’t going to happen here. I was devastated when I saw the first news flashes of the tsunami. I immediately thought of our team and all the local people we knew.” Annette Owttrim.

RIGHT: The aftermath of the tsunami that struck the Solomon Islands in 2007.

FAR RIGHT: East Timorese locals outside Dr Dan’s clinic in Dili, East Timor.

“The Aspen team were on the spot and ready to help when the tsunami hit. The first reports coming through were that there was a ‘little tsunami’ and it wasn’t that bad. But communications were not very good so there was a great deal of uncertainty. The AFP decided to go and have a look and called us to see if we had anyone who could assist. Steven Whan, one of our paramedics was told, literally ‘to pack a swag and a clean tee shirt and head out with the AFP and see what he could do.

And that’s what he did. He didn’t know what he was heading into, how long he’d be there and or what he’d face when he got there. He just went.

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“Between Aspen and the AFP team they evacuated 35 critically injured people over the course of 24 hours. The helicopter took anywhere between 5-10 people each trip depending on whether they were on stretchers or were more mobile. Each return trip to Honiara took about five hours in total by the time the helicopter landed, the injured were transferred to the helicopter and then post the flight the time it took to were load and transfer the patients to ambulances which took them to the Solomon Islands National Referral Hospital.

The crew & medical team just kept going for as long as it took. That’s what we do, and that’s what Aspen is about.”

Chapter Three: A focus on delivery

“Aspen employs a combination of expats and local people and together we’re the team.”

Dr Dan’s But Aspen’s connection to the local communities goes back much further and much deeper than helping out in an emergency. As Cailin Rupil comments, “Aspen is humble. We help people. That’s what we do.

Yes we’re paid to help people, but all of us do and care much more about what we do.”

Aspen Medical was operating in East Timor in a range of capacities and across a number of projects between 2006 and February 2013.

For much of this time Gio Tatti was either Deputy In-Country Manager or In-Country Manager, so has significant knowledge and insight into the connection of Aspen to the country.

“Aspen employs a combination of expats and local people and together we’re the team. The employment and training of locals provides much-needed income for a number of families and communities. In addition Aspen has supported a range of local charities both in terms of financial support and in providing our skills, expertise and knowledge.

For example Aspen staff were constantly helping out at the Dili National Hospital during their rostered time off. And this included our doctors, nurses, paramedics . . . everyone really.

The hospital was so under-resourced we all knew whatever support we could provide would make a difference.

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Dr Dan’s was a clinic established by Dr Daniel Murphy, an American expat, to provide medical and healthcare to the local Dili population.

Dan took the initiative to start the clinic because he saw the dire need of locals for basic health and medical care. The clinic sees anywhere up to 300 people each day, everyday and most cannot afford to pay for their care. Aspen physicians and other professionals were constantly helping out at the clinic when they had some spare time.

“Even when our teams returned to Australia,” comments Matt Hughes “many, under their own initiative, organised for spare equipment, medical supplies and medicines to be sent to the clinic to support Dr Dan’s work. And we still do this. It’s about doing what we can to improve the lives of the people in the communities we operate.”

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

Delivering across Australia and the UK Throughout 2010-11, while Aspen teams were working in remote communities, resources projects and the Pacific, other teams were focusing on clearing yet more waiting lists and providing much needed support for a number of hospitals and special programs. These included a wait list reduction project for public dental patients in NSW, a major project for the South Australian Department of Health for the Modbury and Queen Elizabeth Hospitals Emergency Departments, a Specialty Assist project in the UK, a Surgery Wait List project for the ACT, support to the NSW Aboriginal Oral Health Outreach program in NSW, and work with the Peel Hospital Emergency Department in Western Australia, to name just a few of the projects.

ABOVE LEFT: A RAHC dental assistant at work in one of Central Australia’s Aboriginal communities.

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LEFT: An Elcho Island community member undergoes a dental check as part of RAHC’s program.

Elcho Island is off the coast of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.

Chapter Three: A focus on delivery

The Nursing & Allied Health Rural Locum Scheme (NAHRLS) An important and on-going project for Aspen also commenced in 2011, the Nursing & Allied Health Rural Locum Scheme (NAHRLS).

NAHRLS was established by the Australian Government to support nurses, midwives and allied health professionals in rural and remote Australia, to take leave from their work for up to 14 days to complete their Continuous Professional Development (CPD), as well as take some much-needed holidays. The service is focused on supporting health professionals by administering an uncomplicated start-tofinish locum placement service.

The project is different for Aspen in that it’s more of a partnership arrangement with the Australian Government as opposed to the more standard contract agreement.

As Mark Ellis, the General Manager of NAHRLS comments, “The Government sets the objectives and we deliver. We are also constantly providing feedback as to how the service is really working in the field and adjustments are sometimes made to the areas to which we can provide the service.”

TOP right: A NAHRLS physiotherapist, Michael Davis provides much needed support for medical professionals across Australia.

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LEFT: A NAHRLS nurse, Cathy Davey.

RIGHT: Ben Hamlin, Aspen Clinical Governance and Training Paramedic Co‑ordinator.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

“This program provides the nurse or other health professionals to enable medical care to still be provided to communities while the primary healthcare provider is not there.”

“It’s an interesting and extremely rewarding program to be working on,” comments Mark.

“We focus on rural and remote healthcare professionals. What many people don’t understand is that in a lot of small towns there’s only one health professional and sometimes that person is servicing 3-4 other towns and communities. If they go away for a break, training, or family reasons there’s noone for these communities to access if they need medical help – whatever that may be.

ABOVE: Michael Davis, NAHRLS Physiotherapist.

“This program provides the nurse or other health professionals to enable medical care to still be provided to communities while the primary healthcare provider is not there.

“What this program means is that rural and remote nurses, midwives and allied health professionals can attend professional development training on a regular basis so their skill levels keep pace with changing medical practice; they can take a holiday with their family at least once a year or, if they are sick and need care and treatment, that they get the care and attention they need. It sounds pretty simple, and it is, but without NAHRLS most rural and remote health professionals would not be able to do any of these things.”

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The NAHRLS program was initially funded for three years from 1 July 2011 and was recently extended for another year through to June 2015. Since commencement Aspen has placed 1918 nurses and 210 allied health professionals into rural and remote Australia, to cover their annual leave, professional development, study leave and long service leave of either themselves or health professionals on their staff. As the manager of Community Services at Ottway Health and Community Services comments, “Its great to have different practitioners come through. It is also great for the wider staff team because all practitioners have their specialist areas or strong areas of practice. Their confidence and aptitude has a positive effect on the nurses and PCA’s with whom they share care.”

RIGHT: Regular user of the NAHRLS service, Mark Leddy, Practice Manager, Camperdown Clinic in Victoria.

Chapter Three: A focus on delivery

“We’re doing more than providing a service.”

Mark Ellis comments that, “One of the most fulfilling moments for me personally was at a training seminar for nurses which was being held in Sydney. I clearly remember a nurse coming up to me and saying, ‘the only reason I am here is because you are providing back-fill in my practice.’”

The impact and meaning of NAHRLS was captured in an article in Australian Optometry (Vol 33, Number 7, 2012).

In the article Lismore-based optometrist, Adam Kelly, talks about the importance of the scheme.

“Life-work balance has been very difficult over the past four years. I would like to spend more time with my young family but work 6 days a week. Without NAHRLS it would be virtually impossible to take a break. It was the first time as a family we had been to Melbourne and my daughter loved the tram ride, zoo aquarium and hot jam donuts at Queen Victoria Market that I experienced as a child.”

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

Delivering in the Middle East, Africa, Asia . . . and wherever else we were needed With multiple projects being undertaken across Australia and the Pacific, Aspen UK and Aspen USA were busy with their own projects, as was the Aspen business development team in Australia.

and a comprehensive support package which included training, spares support and integrated logistics support.

In 2010 Aspen Healthcare Solutions (UK) was contracted to supply the UAE Army with trailer-mounted power and cooling systems, soft-skinned shelters and medical ancillary equipment. This was after a visit by the UAE Army and Medical Services Project Team to Aspen in the UK, to assess a demonstration of the company’s capabilities and a field trial in the UAE during the hottest part of the year.

Aspen personnel selected for the 3-month deployments underwent a strict credentialing process for obvious medical and security reasons. Once selected the successful candidates were deployed under the auspices of Contractors on Deployed Operations (CONDO) and had to undertake specific CONDO training designed to prepare them for working in an operational zone. This was in addition to specialist training at the UK’s MoD Medical Training facility.

A little over a year later Aspen Healthcare Solutions was awarded an Enabling Contract to enhance medical capability, by providing contracted medical staff for Operation Herrick in Afghanistan, where the UK Defence Medical Services had a shortfall in trained military medical manpower for deployment. This was an important contract for Aspen and just the second time Aspen had worked with the MoD. The first contract had been just a month before to provide Mobile Medical Incinerators

It was certainly a challenging environment yet gave the selected personnel a unique opportunity to enhance their clinical skills in a dynamic environment and play a major role in taking healthcare forward for British Servicemen and Women, contractors and local civilians. Working in a theatre of war, and dealing with the unique injuries and medical challenges which were a result of the Afghanistan deployment, required a unique set of skills and a particular type of person.

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Chapter Three: A focus on delivery

While Aspen team members were deployed in Afghanistan, others were engaged, via a contract with AECOM (a Fortune 500 engineering, environmental and construction company) to support the Africa Peacekeeping program (AFRICAP) contract with the US Department of State in South Sudan.

The newest country on the planet, South Sudan was (and still is) building a military health system from the ground up. To put this in context, when South Sudan declared its independence it lost all access to military logistics support and the training programs delivered in Khartoum. Specifically, medical doctors in training for the military of South Sudan were left without a program. The US, as part of a broader reconstruction and assistance effort, provided these much needed medical training programs, and this is what Aspen worked on.

ABOVE: A training session being led by Dr Tom Crabtree as part of the GPOI project in Cambodia.

TOP: From left to right: Dr Tom Crabtree, President Aspen Medical USA Inc; Mike Moran, CEO of Aspen Healthcare Solutions UK Ltd; Victor Thomas, Executive Director, Aspen Medical Canada Inc.

For the Aspen team this meant travelling to South Sudan in late 2011 to provide training modules of instruction in Tactical Combat Casualty Care, Trauma Life Support and other war surgery topics.

As 2011 came to a close Dr Andrew Walker, Glenn Keys, Paul Ekin-Smyth, the business development team and project managers could be rightly proud of the projects the company had secured and the performance of its project teams around the world.

Equally gratifying was the increasing professionalism and efficiency of the administrative and credentialing processes.

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Much effort had gone into developing and improving these essential components of the business. As Tareq Rahman comments, “We were, and are, constantly trying to improve the quality, systems and procedures within the company. The larger we grew the more important this became, especially as we work with so many different governments, legal systems and defence operations, more often than not on extremely short timeframes.

We were building a sustainable business which didn’t just rely on one or two people.”

Paul Ekin-Smyth, whose main role was to build the systems and processes and robust organisational structure to enable the company to take on more complex and larger contracts, could see the results of the organisational transformation.

“As the company grew we developed stronger systems and processes which meant once projects were won they could be delivered in a more structured, planned and calmer way.

Compliance across all regulatory domains had improved. We developed systems and processes for HR, finance, IT, contract management, operations, support and clinical governance and credentialing, the latter being absolutely critical for the company.

“Also we developed much stronger processes to deal with inevitable corporate risks and other risk factors which might arise, ensuring our systems were developed to mitigate the risk and being prepared for them if and when they arose.”

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

Aspen’s focus on delivery Looking back over the year, the company had delivered a whole range of complex services to a multitude of Australian and international governments, defence forces, international organisations, specific events and one-off projects. To Glenn Keys though there was one project which stood out from the others, the cholera outbreak in PNG. It epitomised Aspen’s focus on delivery at a most fundamental level.

TOP LEFT: Locals collect fresh water during the cholera outbreak in PNG, 2008.

TOP RIGHT: A local Aspen Medical team member checks on a young child in PNG. BOTTOM RIGHT: A young baby is prepared for an AME by Aspen paramedics.

As Glenn comments, “It didn’t really make the news here in Australia and no-one else really wanted to do the job. It was remote, there were extremely limited medical services on the ground and it involved working with a culturally diverse group of people. Made for Aspen really.”

For background, in September 2009 a deadly cholera outbreak began on the mainland of PNG. By 2010 this outbreak had spread through the Western Province of the country, killing many local residents and affecting thousands more. AusAID, who had been monitoring the situation met with the World Health 58

Organisation and both decided to undertake a joint mission to the region to address ways to prevent the spread of the disease.

Aspen was contracted by AusAID to contain the severe outbreak sweeping through the remote areas of the country. From November 2010 through to early January 2011 Aspen’s team, including a Water and Sanitation Advisor, provided advice on the factors which were contributing to the latest outbreak.

Aspen’s support included ensuring the municipal piped water supply on Daru Island was treated to a potable standard and working with authorities to encourage an increase in access to potable water for the local residents.

The team also oversaw the distribution of narrow-neck water bottles and soap to the affected population on Daru and other villages.

The situation did not make the news, but Aspen’s involvement saved the lives of numerous Papua New Guineans, and led to increased health standards and quality of life for the people in the affected areas.

Chapter Three: A focus on delivery

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

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CHAPTER FOUR:

Making a difference.

When you ask anyone at Aspen about what they like about working at Aspen the answer invariably centres around the capacity of the company, through the people it has, to make a difference to the lives of people for the better. As Andy Stone comments, “We’re always helping someone, somewhere.”

Gary Robertson provides a similar but different response. “I joined the company because of its ethos of giving back to the community.

Aspen in genuinely committed to delivering its services in the right way,” whereas Mark Ellis, General Manager of NAHRLS and Director of IT comments, “You feel like you are genuinely helping people.” This is no more evident than in the work Aspen undertook in supporting Australia’s commitment to the war in Afghanistan.

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

“ It’s challenging but really rewarding work” of intensive training in both the classroom as well as practical sessions in simulated environments. It includes basic life saving techniques including CAT (Combat Application Tourniquet). This was a new approach in teaching and dealing with serious injuries on the battlefield. The CAT is a piece of equipment which is issued to every individual and is to be carried and openly displayed by all troops when on patrol. All personnel were instructed how to apply the CAT not only to others, but also self-application.

ABOVE: Dr Mark Leufler and Victoria Gorrie, a Registered Nurse and part of Aspen’s AME team, prepare a patient for transportation from Mt Bundy as part of Aspen’s ADF contract.

PREVIOUS PAGE: A research team makes its way via canoe to a local village as part of the Pacific Malaria Initiative.

As their UK counterparts were busy supporting the UK Ministry of Defence, Aspen Australia personnel were getting ready to start a contract for the Australian Department of Defence to deliver a ‘Care of Battle Casualties’ first aid training course to all Australian Defence Force personnel deploying to the Middle East at Al Minhad, an hour north of Dubai in the UAE. Set up by Craig Fitzgerald this contract commenced in July 2011 and involved training Australian personnel who go into Afghanistan on an official basis, not just soldiers. This included politicians, media, even the Australia cricket team. The training course comprises a 3-day training package and includes a range of various medical interventions the troops can use on the battlefield. There was 7 hours 62

Simulations included simulated battle conditions inside darkened tents, desert scenarios all with simulated lighting, battlefield noises and simulated explosions. If you didn’t pass the course, you didn’t go to Afghanistan.

Aspen has 6 instructors at Al Minhad, all former serving army medics with experience in Afghanistan under combat conditions. They work three months on and one month off and will remain there until the last of the Australian troops are withdrawn from Afghanistan.

“Its challenging but really rewarding work,” comments Andy Stone, an Aspen Project Manager, currently based in Brisbane.

“Knowing what we do in Al Minhad really saves lives and makes a huge difference for each one of our soldiers and their families. Every soldier killed in action in Afghanistan hits home to us as our team has had direct contact with these brave soldiers, either through the provision of

Chapter Four: Making a difference

CBC Training, or the trainers may have worked with them when they were in the service. We do things which have a positive outcome and are for the good of someone else. That’s pretty good and makes it easy to come to work.”

As we have already seen, Aspen has been involved in community-linked projects in most places in which it has had longer-term projects.

This desire to make a difference, combined with the knowledge and capacity to do so, has been part of the Aspen ethos from the outset, and has been driven by the indefatigable energy of Glenn Keys, who has long been involved in community activities. As Mel Keys, Glenn’s wife comments, “We’ve both always volunteered as we have a strong mutual belief about giving back. But with Glenn, it’s almost as if he can’t say no if he’s asked to get involved in something. The natural progression of this, and the work of Aspen team members, was to establish the Aspen Foundation, which we did in 2007.”

“The goal of the Aspen Foundation is to undertake life-changing healthcare through significantly reducing or eradicating key illnesses in the Australian community. I’m the Chairman and Craig Fitzgerald has been the CEO since 2009. We support a selected group of organisations which are working to make a difference in Australia. One of the first programs we supported, and still do, is Dr Hugh Taylor’s efforts to eradicate trachoma in the

Aboriginal population of Australia. We’ve been supporting his work since 2010 and we’re starting to see some great results.”

Craig Fitzgerald, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for Aspen Medical also comments, “We have a very strong corporate responsibility ethos. The Aspen Foundation is a registered charity and is largely funded

by Mel, Glenn and Andrew Walker through an allocation of a percentage of the profits of the company. Prior to the Foundation, Glenn, Mel and Andrew allocated significant amounts of their own money to support various projects.

The Aspen Foundation formalises this and also allows Aspen staff and contractors to contribute as well.”

“The Foundation supports The Melbourne Indigenous Eye Unit (Dr Hugh Taylor), One Disease at a Time, a charity established in 2007 which is currently working to eradicate scabies from Aboriginal communities and the Christian Eye Mission. We support existing organisations as we believe this is a more effective use of our knowledge, skills and financial resources than establishing yet another separate activity.”

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ABOVE: Aspen trainers at Al Minhad Air Base in the UAE, taking a group through part of the Care of Battle Casualties training program.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

Eliminating one disease at a time One Disease at a Time was founded by ACT medical doctor and entrepreneur, Sam Prince.

“I love medicine, the people contact and the problem-solving aspect of it. Health initiatives are central to my E-magine Foundation which delivers health and education resources to Indigenous Australians and developing countries. The One Disease at a Time campaign has a simple but ground-breaking vision: to systematically target and eliminate one disease at a time.”

Its first initiative is to eliminate crusted scabies and scabies as a health issue in Australia.

A highly contagious skin disease, Scabies has reached epidemic proportions in many remote Aboriginal communities. Crusted scabies is arguably one of the most devastating medical conditions in Australia. Patients suffering from this condition become the core transmitters of Scabies.

One Disease at a Time is two years into a three year Healthy Skin Program in East Arnhem Land. As part of its mission One Disease wants to demonstrate a bestpractice model of partnering with Indigenous communities to create sustained change.

Samantha Cran, the CEO of One Disease at a Time comments, “Through empowerment, community engagement and inspiring the next generation of healthcare students positive change will prevail. We’re on a mission to make Australians optimistic about Indigenous health.”

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TOP: One Disease team members.

BOTTOM: A young Indigenous child with Scabies (skin sores and a fungal infection) gets treatment as part of the One Disease at a Time program.

Chapter Four: Making a difference

But the Aspen Foundation is just the tip of a substantial and meaningful range of activities Aspen employees and contractors undertake, every day across many of the projects they have and are working on.

East Timor and the Solomon Islands feature large in Aspen’s community work. As Andy Stone comments: “We make a difference to individuals. We have helped out in orphanages, local hospitals and clinics as well as helping out at a Special Needs School in the Solomon Islands, to name only a few.”

“Also, there are many locals who work for us. 50% of the hospital staff in the Solomon Islands are locals and we had the same in Timor. We’re providing jobs and an income for local people. Blondie Bata in the Solomon Islands is a great example. Blondie started as a cleaner in our hospital in the Solomon Islands at the commencement of that project and has since been elevated to very important administrative work at the hospital. Blondie is indicative of many of the locals we employ on our overseas operations.

Our local staff live in the communities we are there to support and in most cases our local staff live in leaf huts without running water and electricity, yet they present to work immaculately dressed and with much deserved pride.

“The company flew to Canberra four Solomon Island employees from the Solomon Islands, for Aspen’s 10th anniversary celebrations in June of 2013. Two of them had been never

away from Honiara before, so the grandeur of Brisbane and Canberra didn’t go unnoticed to these first time travellers.”

Matt Hughes, a former In-Country Manager in the Solomon Islands and now General Manager – Operations, provides additional insight to Aspen’s activities.

“In addition to the visits we undertook to remote communities, with the support of the AFP, is the aeromedical evacuation work we’re involved with. Again, with the support of the AFP, we have been involved in evacuating hundreds of people in remote communities with extremely serious medical conditions, many of which are complications with childbirth. With the AFP and the Solomon Island community leaders, we’ve been able to save lives and make a difference in our own small way to some of the remote communities of the Solomon Islands.”

“I remember one AME really clearly. We picked up a woman in a serious condition with the delivery of her baby. On returning to Honiara we hand to land on the International Soccer Field near the main hospital in Honiara close to the centre of town. We were all so busy focusing on what we had to do, that we didn’t realise a huge crowd of locals had stopped to watch us. They knew we were helping one of their people and they were really appreciative of what we were doing. We just did what we were trained to do and it was the right thing to do. This woman and her baby would definitely have died had we not provided the support we did. That’s pretty fulfilling.”

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ABOVE: Some of the Solomon Islands Aspen team members who came to Canberra in May 2013 to participate in Aspen’s 10th anniversary celebrations, including Andy Stone (2nd left) with Beverley (far left), Tansey (2nd far right) and Blondie (far right).

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

“Given our medical knowledge and based on how people with disabilities have been integrated into our community in Australia, we as a company and other individuals believed we could make a difference in this area.”

And, of course, there is Aspen’s work in East Timor with Aspen staff and contractors helping out at Dili National Hospital and in Dr Dan’s clinic. “In addition to the great work our professionals undertake in these two places, we have a close association with a number of schools and clinics. As Gio Tatti explains: “In Timor Aspen supported a range of charities through our own charitable giving program, mostly through providing Aspen staff and contractors but also with money, equipment, management and logistics expertise and advice. In addition, during our time there we’ve trained a number of locals in a wide range of areas and they now work in the clinic we’ve established.”

ABOVE RIGHT: Ben Clair, who is working with Aspen to create and implement a braille computer program that can support Aspen’s work with blind people in the Solomon Islands.

More recently, Aspen has just started a pilot program in the Solomon Islands for a Diploma Certificate in Braille. This has come about through Aspen’s long-term involvement in the Solomon Islands and support of various local communities. Craig Fitzgerald outlines the program.

“Some years back Aspen decided to help fund an NGO called People with Disabilities Solomon Islands (PWDSI) which meant it 66

could employ two disability Advocacy Officers.

These officers work with Disabled Self Help Groups across the country, supporting them in obtaining basic human rights such as healthcare, sanitation, education and access to transport. There are hundreds of people across these communities who have a disability of one sort or another, from blindness, to a physical deformity or mental condition.

Traditionally, these individuals would be cared for but not included in the community’s life or activities.

“Given our medical knowledge and based on how people with disabilities have been integrated into our community in Australia, we as a company and other individuals believed we could make a difference in this area.”

Chapter Four: Making a difference

BELOW: A helicopter arrives at an orphanage in Timor Leste with Aspen medical staff on board to undertake general health checks on the children.

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

Empowering those with a disability The Aspen Foundation has teamed up with the Royal Institute for the Blind and the University of New South Wales to develop and deliver a Diploma Certificate in Braille.

Ben Clair, who is himself vision impaired, is helping us to create and implement a braille computer program Jarbis, a young, blind Solomon Islander is the first person to undertake the course and he will graduate at the end of 2013.

Aspen brought him to Canberra and Sydney in June of this year to work with him, and provide the support and tools he needed to undertake the Diploma. Craig Fitzgerald comments, “we hope to have two more Solomon Islanders undertake the course in 2014 and grow it from there.”

Closer to home Philips Roberts, General Manager of Remote Area Health Corps (RAHC) talks about his passion for the work he oversees. “I am passionate about making a difference to the lives of Aboriginal people and many of the professionals who work for us feel the same way.

“A year or so ago I proposed to Glenn that Aspen should become more engaged with supporting Aboriginal communities, and now we’re working on implementing a Reconciliation Action Plan, to drive real outcomes in Aboriginal employment and business. Because of our linkages and relationships with a range of companies and government departments, I felt we could leverage these relationships to make a difference in the Northern Territory. Glenn was totally supportive of this initiative and now its coming to fruition.”

Aspen is in a great position in that, by the very nature of the type of work it delivers, medical and healthcare, it makes a very real difference to the lives of thousands of people around the world, every day. This is no more in evidence than in the remote area, low-key work that Aspen delivers across the top end of Australia.

More recently, in August 2013 Aspen Medical was contracted to provide a Dentist to support the Cape York Hospital & Health Service, treating the Indigenous populations in the

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ABOVE: Aspen Staff with village children in Timor Leste.

Chapter Four: Making a difference

“In addition to the Foundation, Aspen has an annual direct donation program to charities closely associated with our customers such as Legacy, and Life Love & Health in East Timor.

towns of Aurukun, Pormpuraaw, Lockhart River, Coen and Kowanyama.

BELOW: Andy Stone visiting locals in the Solomon Islands.

The work of the Aspen Foundation is as diverse as it is grass roots. A long time Project manager with Aspen, Brian Carruthers, comments that while not formally involved in the Foundation’s work he has often received a phone call from Craig Fitzgerald which usually starts along the lines of, “I’ve got a little job for you.”

“For example,” comments Brian, “I recently got a call from Craig asking me to help out with a project which involves getting a solar power system to a school in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands where I’m working. And we’ll just do it. And only this morning I was visiting with the young Solomon Islander boy and his case worker who is part of our braille program. Its just all part of what Aspen does.”

Paul Ekin-Smyth also notes, “In addition to the Foundation, Aspen has an annual direct donation program to charities closely associated with our customers such as Legacy, and Life Love & Health in East Timor.

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Life, Love and Health in East Timor In May 2013 Aspen In-Country and Canberra staff visited the Kids Ark Primary School in Hera, East Timor. Hera is a small community 40 minutes south of Dili and supports a pre-school program for the children of poor families as well as a community health clinic. During the visit by the Aspen staff the kinder class recited songs for their visitors and the Principal, Soraya Nepomuceno proudly showed the school’s new toilet block which Aspen built, through the Life, Love and Health Charity. The charity was founded in 2002

by John and Luke Gosling to complete community development projects in East Timor and now supports community development partners in the country.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

Leading by example And quietly, behind the scenes, Glenn is involved in a wide range of charities, organisations and projects.

In 2008 Glenn was the Coordinator of the Special Olympics Junior National Games, an event hosted by Special Olympics Australia, which provides year-round support for athletes with an intellectual disability. More than 250 young intellectually disabled athletes took part in the competition in Canberra with 8 to 15 year olds from each state and territory joined by teams from Afghanistan and Indonesia.

For five years, Glenn has been the Chair of Special Olympics ACT and was instrumental in helping to organise the inaugural Canberra Centenary Swimming Competition which was held in April 2013. The opening ceremony and two days of competition took place at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), where Special Olympics athletes from around Australia strived to achieve their personal best at the home of Australia’s champions. Olympic gold medallist Alicia Coutts joined Paralympian gold medallist Michael Milton in hosting the official opening ceremony.

Gary Robertson, currently Project Manager at Bechtel comments about how Glenn’s energy and enthusiasm for this role rubbed off on him not long after he joined the company in January 2012.

“Special Olympics training and competition really helps improve their life skills in regard to things like fitness, responsibility and coordination with others. It’s a wonderful social outlet for them as well. It helps them learn how to be part of a team and how to cope together when they have to travel.

“The more I learned about the company the more I liked it. I was impressed with the concept of the Aspen Foundation, our involvement in the Special Olympics and their ethos of giving back to the community.

The company wasn’t just about ‘making a buck’. Not long after I started I got involved in the Special Olympics through my role as a basketball referee and loved it. I met some amazing individuals.”

“So it helps on so many levels. It’s a really wonderful activity which has so many benefits.

When people with an intellectual disability get out and do sport, it is helping them improve their overall health and mental attitude.”

Separately, Glenn has been involved in Project Independence, a housing development for people with disabilities which represents a new model of home ownership. The first of its kind in the ACT it was conceived and driven by

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Chapter Four: Making a difference

“He’s constantly looking for the next opportunity or talking to people within the company, in business and in the community. He thinks strategically and believes he can do anything . . . and, to date he has. A lot of this has been for the community.”

ABOVE and RIGHT: Competitors from the Special Olympics held as part of the Canberra Centenary Swimming Competition in April 2013.

Glenn after a conversation with his now 20 year old son, Ehren who has Down Syndrome.

the board of the Canberra Business Council in 2006, a role he still holds.

“Ehren gave me the idea when we were moving into a new home a few years ago.

When I asked Ehren to help unpack some boxes he responded that he was too busy because he was designing the house he was going to live in. Project Independence is the end result of that conversation. It was a moment of clarity that just because Ehren has Down Syndrome doesn’t mean he won’t want to own his own home one day.”

Most recently, Glenn was on the ACT Expert Panel for the National Disability Insurance Scheme and in June of 2013 was appointed one of eight board members to the National Disability Insurance Agency.

Three specially designed houses are being built which will house about 10 people with an intellectual disability. There will be rooms on site for live-in carers or support workers.

Those moving into the houses will be able to purchase the units they are going to live in, and they can sell them later if they wish . . . just like anyone else.”

As a successful Canberra business person it was hardly surprising Glenn was asked to join 71

As Mel comments, “He takes on a lot but he has the energy and just finds the time.

Whatever he’s done, he’s done well.”

Susan Vos, his Executive Assistant, shares her insight. “He’s constantly looking for the next opportunity or talking to people within the company, in business and in the community.

He thinks strategically and believes he can do anything . . . and, to date he has. A lot of this has been for the community.”

Cailin Rupil, one of the earliest employees of Aspen in 2013 puts it more simply. “He comes up with ideas or projects, or is approached with an idea or project and ALWAYS finds a solution.”

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

Growing a successful business Aspen can only make a difference if it remains a successful and growing business. Having been recognised as the fastest-growing company in Australia in 2006 and winning the National Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the same year (both Glenn and Andrew received the award), Aspen has not slowed down at all.

Growth was certainly happening throughout 2011 and 2012. After many years of discussions, meetings and working through different scenarios, Aspen Medical was selected by the Abu Dhabi Police as an international healthcare partner over companies from the USA and Europe, to establish and manage a private ambulance service in Abu Dhabi.

RIGHT: The VaxVan makes its way through Sydney streets as part of its program of delivering a mobile vaccination service to a range of companies.

This ground-breaking partnership, the first with an Australian company, is pioneering new models of pre-hospital care service development and delivery throughout the UAE and, it is hoped by Aspen, across the region. Glenn remembers the initial phone call he received about the project and how discussions progressed. “The UAE National Ambulance Company project came about through links with Austrade and then diligent 72

follow up. It’s no good having a business lead unless you close it. Aspen was one of several companies the Abu Dhabi Police Department had requested a proposal from, and they were interested in an Australian company becasue one of the leads on the project had undertaken a degree at Monash some years before.

“I spoke to the representative, then spent the next 24 hours writing up a proposal with ideas, options and thoughts and sent it off. I then followed up, went and visited with them to learn more about their needs and got to know them. We won this contract and I later learnt we were the only one of the several companies they contacted which had responded in under a month. We had responded within a day.”

Chapter Four: Making a difference

Brian Carruthers, a Project Manager with Aspen, and an Aspen paramedic, were sent up to Abu Dhabi a short time later to undertake some additional research and information gathering in order to prepare a formal business plan. After their plane had landed they were picked up and taken to their hotel by a representative of the Abu Dhabi Police. While checking in, the Abu Dhabi Police representative asked where their business plan was. Brian looked at him quizzically, that was what he was here to research he thought to himself. “We’re working on it” came the less than convincing response. “Well, if you don’t have a business plan to present at Thursday’s meeting, you might as well go home,” the representative responded.

“So there we were. We had 24 hours to create a business plan for an ambulance operation. in a country which we had been, literally, 2 hours. Suffice to say we delivered.”

“So there we were. We had 24 hours to create a business plan for an ambulance operation, in a country which we had been, literally, 2 hours. Suffice to say we delivered.”

A corporation was established – the National Ambulance Company – with the initial task of providing private ambulance services in Abu Dhabi. Since it commenced in 2011, it has provided emergency services and soon expanded into the provision of ambulance services for major public and private events throughout Abu Dhabi, such as its support of the F1 Yas Marina event, as well as community involvement through sponsorship of the Pink Polo breast cancer event.

ABOVE: A board meeting of the UAE National Ambulance Company.

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

Canada beckons 2011-12 also saw the establishment of a subsidiary business in Canada and the start of the long process of looking for opportunities and potential projects in this country. In Canada, Aspen has developed along different lines to other parts of the business in that it took over the contract to manage an Allied Heath Centre within the University of Regina in January 2012. With 27 medical practitioners the clinic runs a multi-disciplinary model that aims to provide health services to the students of the university, their families and the general public.

ABOVE: Chief Louie, Chief for the Westbank First Nation Council, Canada, during his visit to Aspen in Canberra and Alice Springs in 2012.

Aspen Canada has also been involved in discussions with the First Nations people of Canada. Robert Louie, chief for the Westbank First Nation Council has a vision for this, to build a community based on enabling entrepreneurship and building businesses.

An important element of this is the creation of an Indigenous Wellness Centre on Westbank First Nation territory in Kelowna B.C. Unofficially named the Lake Okanagan Medical Wellness Centre, plans are for it to span about 200,000 square feet and boast 100 beds in its first phase of completion. Given Aspen’s work with Indigenous Aboriginal communities there was a natural link.

As Susan Vos comments, “I was involved with the initial contact from Aspen Canada, who brought Chief Louie out from Canada for the World Indigenous Business Conference in 2011.

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He was very interested in seeing how Aspen Australia worked so successfully in remote areas with our Indigenous communities, so we took him out to Alice Springs. I worked with the guys in Canada and RAHC with itineraries and schedules and accompanied the entourage on that trip. Through this connection there are now some interesting opportunities evolving in Canada, with the First Nations people in Kelowna. Being part of the company’s development with things like this at a strategic level, is rewarding and exciting. You can be part of a ripple effect.”

2012 was also another busy year for Aspen in Australia with the acquisition of Healthpoint Technologies and Corporate Medical Options in the ACT. Healthpoint had been operating for just under 25 years when Aspen acquired it in 2012.

Healthpoint generates revenue for pharmacies, GP clinics and health food stores through health information and assessments. The information is provided on touch screens and tablets enabling staff to engage with clients to better improve the customer experience.

Healthpoint provides information on over 3,500 health topics that are evidence based, credible and fully referenced. The assessments are provided from health associations designed to raise awareness of health conditions.

Chapter Four: Making a difference

“The important element about the health information – especially the quality of information we provide – is that it’s essentially the same throughout the world.”

Healthpoint is the leading provider of interactive health information in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. It is now available across 700 pharmacies in Australia/NZ and 500 pharmacies in the UK. In Australia almost all the major pharmacy groups offer Healthpoint, and in the UK Healthpoint works with the second largest pharmacy group, Lloyds Pharmacy, and is also in the pharmacy to the Royal Family.

Many website providers also use the Healthpoint content as their health information.

As Craig Simmonds, the General Manager of Healthpoint comments, “We are continually developing credible content to ensure our customers, the pharmacies, offer thoroughly researched and fully referenced advice, rather than sourcing un-vetted content provided through the internet.

“Healthpoint is a really dynamic company.

We’re based in Melbourne and using this as our base to expand geographically and into new distribution channels. In September 2013 we established a business in South Africa and in 2014 will expand into the US. “The important element about the health information – especially the quality of information we provide – is that it’s essentially the same throughout the world. This provides a strong basis for Healthpoint to expand worldwide.

“Healthpoint is also expanding into new channels including GP clinics. There is a real opportunity to improve the service level of information and take advantage of client’s expectation of technology improving processes.

Corporate Medical Options is a Canberra based business which was purchased by Aspen in 2012. It was a logical acquisition for Aspen because Corporate Medical Options undertook pre-employment medicals, injury management services and workplace vaccination services.

At the time of the acquisition Aspen had been delivering pre-employment medical evaluations for some time as part of its contract with Bechtel Australia to provide medical services for the Chevron operated Wheatstone LNG Project.

CMO recently acquired Health Futures a company that delivers health appraisals on site. As Michael Wagstaff, General Manager of Aspen Corporate Medical comments. “It’s a very successful business with a strong brand and offers a great service. The health appraisals provided on site with a health consultant cover lifestyle, pathology, strategies to manage health issues and, where there are clinical or diagnostic issues, immediate referrals are made.

It is a really popular pro-active, pre-emptive program in which patients interact through the website on a continuing basis. As a result employees have lower absentee rates,

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ABOVE: A pharmacist uses one of Healthpoint’s terminals.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

South Australia and the Northern Territory, as well as Hancock Prospecting, Santos and Total E&P in Broome, northern Western Australia.

Working remotely brings its own rewards and challenges for the Aspen contractors and requires active management by the respective project managers as well as the Aspen support team back in Canberra. As Gary Robertson, Project Manager on the Bechtel Wheatstone project based at Onslow comments.

ABOVE LEFT: ‘Lorna’, Aspen’s mobile theatre in‑situ at the ADF base in the Solomon Islands.

improved mental and physical health which benefits them personally and their employers.

Another service offered by CMO is the Vax Van. The Vax Van provides on-site vaccinations to a wide range of Sydney Trains cleaning personnel who work irregular hours and, more often than not, cannot get to a doctor without taking time off, so it’s a win for Sydney Trains and the employees. CMO is looking to expand this mobile service to include hearing tests for construction and machine workers who are required to be tested a regular intervals.

Providing a mobile hearing service means less time is lost as these tests can be done on site.

While expansion into other health-related areas continued apace, Aspen was engaged in a number of projects with existing and new clients. The oil and gas exploration project, in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, continued to need medical support and Aspen delivered this in the form of medical support for ERM and BHP in Western Australia; Murphy Oil, Petro Frontier and Rodinia in 76

“Given we’re so remote, we don’t have the same sorts of equipment or support as major cities. And, there’s the added challenge that the workers are operating in environments which are not like major cities with the family and support groups they’d have there or the range of recreational options. The lifestyle of these workers is radically different from what most Australians would know, and it can be tough.

“We do more than just emergency evacuations.

We’re delivering health promotion activities, flu vaccinations, men’s health information sessions, skin clinics, pre-work activity and exercises to promote fitness, flexibility and safety, fatigue management as well as ‘Tool box Talks’ which cover a whole rang of things from first aid to how to treat snake bites.

“The team is also constantly improving our knowledge through staff training, both on site and away. Four of our team recently spent a week in Perth undertaking an X-ray operator’s course so we can improve the services to our clients.”

Chapter Four: Making a difference

From the Outback to festivals As if to highlight the wide range of healthcare services Aspen can and does supply, Aspen was contracted to supply medical and health support for the Elton John concert held at Canberra Stadium. This was not the first time Aspen had supported a music event. Early on in Aspen’s life, in 2007, it was contracted to provide a GP clinic on the Woodford Folk Festival site for the duration of the festival.

Woodford is a semi-rural town 72 kilometres north of Brisbane, and one of the biggest cultural events of its type in Australia.

Concert-goers and performers were able to use the Aspen Medical GP Clinic as they would use a GP clinic anywhere. It was staffed with a GP and Registered Nurse throughout the Festival. All the usual credentialing checks were conducted of course, although one suspects that only those doctors and nurses that liked folk music would have applied.

RIGHT: Glenn Keys (back row, far left) and other winners of the ACT Chief Minister’s Export Awards in 2012.

While Elton John fans were enthralled by an amazing rendition of Rocket Man and Your Song, Glenn Keys and his key business development team were busy finalising the details of a contract which was about to rocket Aspen Medical into one of Australia’s largest 77

private companies. That said, Aspen’s growth has not gone unnoticed, with the company being recognised through a range of business and community awards. These include BRW’s Australia’s Fastest growing company in 2007 and ANZ’s Private Business of the Year (under $100 million) in 2009, the ACT Chief Minister’s Export Award in 2009, the winner of the Australian Institute of Project Management’s ACT Chapter Regional Development Award, the Defence Reserves Support Council award for Private Sector Employer of the Year (ACT and SE NSW) and the Health and Biotechnology category of the 2013 National Exporter of the Year awards. All within just 10 years.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

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CHAPTER FIVE:

An atmosphere of excellence.

Making a difference also means running an efficient and profitable business for, without this, Aspen would not be successful and able to deliver its services and community support.

A critical component of this is the drive, values and energy Glenn Keys brings to Aspen and the solid, experienced making up the key executive group.

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Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

“ The DoHS contract is the biggest single contract we have secured.”

RIGHT: Aspen RN Marcia Neilson treating a member of the Defence Force staff.

services tender conducted by Joint Health Command, for the provision of Garrison Health Services to the ADF.

PREVIOUS PAGE: The National Ambulance Company services the city of Abu Dhabi, UAE.

As Craig Fitzgerald comments, “The DoHS contract is the biggest single contract we have secured. It took 12 Aspen staff 18 months to pull the tender and contract together.

Stewart Reynolds, a key part of the transition team for the DoHS project provides some insight into the scale, scope and challenge of the contract. “We had 6 weeks to write it and work with the Medibank team to deliver a final document. I was working 14-18 hour days for the duration of this time, just on the pricing. The pricing had to be based on the cost schedules of the Defence Department, and I had to go through each item then work out what our pricing would be in 12 months time so we were covered. And we’re talking tens of millions of dollars here. Getting the pricing right on such a large project was critical, and a mistake could cost the company significant amounts of money. It was extremely challenging.”

This team’s capability, performance, delivery and values were critical components in winning the Defence On-Base Health Services contract in June 2012. Known within Aspen as DoHS this contract is a transformative contract for the company. It is also the outcome of the largest

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Chapter Five: An atmosphere of excellence

Stewart Reynolds continues. “It [the tender] was submitted in October 2011. We were notified in February 2012 that we were the preferred tenderer. Negotiations on the contract happened between March-June 2012, then we had a transition period of 3 and a half months. We had to start the project on the same day across all 52 sites, with 800 employees.

“This type of national project had never been done before so there was a lot riding on it for Aspen, our prime contractor and also for the Department of Defence.”

The DoHS contract commenced in November 2012 and runs for a minimum of four years, with options for two one-year extensions.

The contract requires Aspen to deliver a broad range of multi-disciplinary medical and allied health services to 52 Defence On-Base health facilities around Australia.

The DoHS contract has seen, among other things a rapid and complex ramp up of a whole range of training, administrative and organisational capacity within Aspen. This is no better explained than through the insight of the Manager of Clinical Training, Development and Communications, Janie Armstrong.

“The DoHs contract is by far the most challenging subset of training for me so far.

The Clinical Training team is supporting the CPR training on all the Defence Force bases in

Australia. We deliver on-base or off the base CPR training and rely on the sub-regional and regional managers to support the logistics of getting the health personnel together and on schedule for training. My colleague Ben Hamlin and I have trained 270 staff in CPR between May and July across a range of bases.

“This challenge will not be won until I have ensured each Defence base and Aspen site has a trainer(s) in place to pick up this training and any other in service training next year.

My challenge includes providing complete support for each trainer, for example: trainer certification, in service, electronic enrolment and student support/feedback and quality improvement.”

“We also have contracts with a wide range of organisations such as RACGP, RSN, ARCCM, ASQA and RACIC among others in relation 81

ABOVE: AFP Officers in Timor Leste on the day of their departure from the country.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

“Working in remote areas is a challenge in a whole host of ways, not least of all keeping up to speed with new techniques and practices for the paramedics on the ground, literally.”

to CPR training. In addition to this, we are developing a range of training videos and information for the whole of Aspen, whether you are a paramedic in a remote part of WA or in the Solomon Islands.

“It’s a challenging task but I’m up for it. Not many people would understand the life of a paramedic in a remote location. You’re on your own a lot and have to be independent. Finding ways to keep our people engaged and learning is what I am passionate about, and what our team members and contractors need, not only for themselves but for the benefit of our clients.”

Janie Armstrong has a typically go-get-it style about her and has already pitched her ideas to Glenn and the management team. “I am passionate about training and had an inkling Aspen would be the company where I could develop and explore this. I’m now working on developing Aspen’s own suite of training programs for paramedics involving fact sheets, online learning and short training videos.

We’ve done a pilot of four packages so far and plan to do more.

“Working in remote areas is a challenge in a whole host of ways, not least of all keeping up to speed with new techniques and practices for the paramedics on the ground, literally.

The training I aim to develop can be accessed by all our people wherever they are. There’s great potential in this area and I’m getting the support and encouragement to pursue this.”

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ABOVE: The Aspen AME team at work at Reedy Creek, Queensland, as part of their contract with Origin Energy.

Chapter Five: An atmosphere of excellence

So what’s the secret to Aspen’s success?

ABOVE: Amelda Keys, Chair of the Aspen Foundation, and Glenn Keys thanking staff at the closing ceremony at the Timor project which went for 6 years.

RIGHT: There’s not much Aspen can’t customise for a medical support vehicle. Here the Aspen Buggy Ambulance provides support for the Bechtel contract.

How does a private company, just 10 years old, end up working with governments from several countries, clearing what may seem like mundane problems such as surgical waiting lists in England and Ireland, supporting several national defence forces, international resource companies, international aid agencies, Australian Aboriginal communities, and music festivals and stay under the radar, pun intended?

Very simply really.

A commitment to excellence, ethics and an absolute passion about getting the job done.

And not simply, really. Aspen Medical has come about, literally, as a result of the passion, energy and indefatigable drive of a whole group of individuals. It started with just two and now, in 2013, it’s over 2,200.

Aspen started with two people, Dr Andrew Walker and Glenn Keys, two school friends from Newcastle, who share a simple but basic

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trust in each other overlaid with a mutual respect and understanding of the talent and respect for the other.

Andrew was, and still is, a serial entrepreneur.

Glenn had finished a long and successful career in the Australian Defence Force as a flight test engineer and logistician and had worked for Aerospace Technical Services and then Raytheon. He also had a young family.

His wife Mel and three children Sian, Ehren and Tim, aged 12, 10 and 8 in 2003, had moved to Canberra a few years before, a new town, away from both Mel and Glenn’s parents and support network.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

And then there was the question Andrew asked Glenn. “Why don’t we do something together? Glenn was ready to ‘burn the boats’.

Mel, his wife, recalls the discussions they had.

“We talked about it and what taking this chance would mean for us financially and to how our family worked, but I knew from experience that whatever Glenn had taken on he’d always done well, so while we were both a bit apprehensive, I was sure it’d work out. We lived off our savings for a while and Glenn was away a lot, but not as much as he had been. It was a challenge but we were up for it.”

BELOW LEFT: Head office operations and project staff in 2013.

BELOW RIGHT: WARAME team members prepare a jet for a mission at Karratha, West Australia.

Paul Ekin-Smyth provides some additional insight. “Given we were charting new territory there was all sorts of resistance across the defence force and the health establishment within it. Many were horrified we were contracting out medical services and delivery, but this was largely based on the medical establishment’s concern for protecting their

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own positions. Anyway, we pushed on and Aspen was in the right place at the right time.

Aspen took up the challenge and delivered.

There was a lot of learning on the job but we performed much to their credit. Without Mel’s steadfast support of Glenn and the energy of the small team at the time, the outcome may have been different.”

So where did the name come from? Well there’s two versions. Andrew Walker had a company called Aspen Medical Ventures which was involved in the provision of specialists medical reports for legal cases, which could sometimes go on for years. As Andrew recalls, “We needed a name for the company and I already had one which was sort of in the medical field so we selected that.”

Glenn in supporting this adds, “We needed a name and Andrew had a company involved in the medical area. In any event Wombat Medical just didn’t have the same ring to it.”

Chapter Five: An atmosphere of excellence

10 years on So, from a conversation in 2003, Aspen Medical has grown to become an international leader in the provision of healthcare solutions around the world. Its achieved this in ways in which the founders and key early employees – now executive team members – perhaps could not have imagined, or did imagine . . . which is probably why they and the over 2,200 other Aspen employees and contractors are with the company.

To start, grow and drive a company from an idea to a worldwide leader in its field in 10 years, is an amazing story, whatever business sector you want to review. It doesn’t happen by chance. It happens as a result of a combination of factors. Leadership, vision, passion, empathy, delivery, strong systems and processes, strong relationships, a committed team of executives, performance, more performance . . . and, as far as Glenn Keys is concerned, an insatiable capacity for writing tenders and winning. Just ask Annette Owttrim, Cailin Rupil, Amanda Fracaro, Grant Matthews, Craig Fitzgerald, Stewart Reynolds, Gary Roberston and many others.

One of the key factors in Aspen’s success, according to Dr James Ross, Aspen’s Chief Medical Director is, “that the working environment at Aspen is an atmosphere of excellence. There are high expectations of everyone and a recognition that we are doing something very special and we do it well.”

This view, and it is a considered view, is echoed throughout Aspen. Whoever you talk to, interact

with or work with, the feeling and the passion is the same. Matt Hughes, General Manager, Operations perhaps sums it up best when he commented that, “I look back on what we have achieved and think how did we do that? Then I think about it and we did it because we have a can-do attitude and a great team mix. We talk through projects, ideas and challenges and come up with a solution. It’s not just a job.

We’re a team and we do a really great job. We have the ability to find a solution for our clients, whatever the job is. We do this collectively, and based on our values and ethics.

“I remember one particular situation we faced. We were contracted to supply surgical expertise to a customer and the surgeon we had selected pulled out with very late notice.

There were a couple of ways we could have handled this. We could have said to the client, sorry, it’s not our problem we were let down or we could find a solution. We felt we had a moral, as well as contractual obligation. If we didn’t supply the surgeon there could well be people who may have died or had serious complications because we had not delivered.

We chartered an aircraft, paid top dollar to secure the necessary surgeons and got them to the job. It cost a huge amount of money to do this, but we made sure there was not a single surgical hour in which they were not covered.

There was NEVER any question about what we’d do, and we’ve built a reputation for this over the years.”

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TOP: Darren Colley, Aspen Paramedic on location at an oil and gas site in Queensland.

ABOVE: WARAME was presented with the South Australia University Excellence Award 2013.

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

The engine rooms of Aspen

ABOVE: Glenn Keys accepts the 2012 ACT Exporter of the Year Award from ACT Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher.

Many components go into the smooth running of Aspen on a day-to-day basis, especially now the company is delivering on multi-million dollar contracts. But, even from the outset, ensuring the selection and professionalism of the doctors and health professionals has been a critical part of Aspen’s capability. As Dr Andrew Walker recalls, “Quite early on, Glenn was adamant we needed to develop a strong credentialing process. We spent $500,000 per year on developing this when the company was in its early stages and only turning over a couple of million. I was less enthusiastic about it, but it was one of the most important things we have ever done and, to this day, delivers a strong competitive advantage to us, let alone providing security to our clients that we have the best. It’s certainly been a critical part of winning government tenders.

and finance. Without them, we don’t have a business. Everyone tends to focus on the ‘glamorous/high profile projects’ but there are a lot of people putting terrific work in the lead up to new projects, delivering all the support required to make them happen and help them run smoothly.

“Another important component to what we do is the role and performance of the Project Managers. The company relies heavily on its Project Managers at each of the sites and as such we have a great deal of autonomy and responsibility. As a project manager you are responsible for everything, HR, finances, client liaison, aeromedical evacuations, helicopter pilots, liaison with governments . . . the lot.”

“Glenn’s built a great team around him, from Annette, Craig, Matt, Stu Reynolds and a raft of others, and he’s an inspiring leader. I’m in the background. I firmly believe a company should have one Managing Director and that’s definitely Glenn.”

And, of course, none of this would be possible without the people who make up Aspen across the business. From a dentist working to support the Cape York Hospital and Health Service treating Indigenous populations, to a paramedic deployed on the Furgo Explorer in the seas off South Australia up to the North West coast of WA, to the HR, Operations and Finance people in Canberra, the team that constitutes NAHRLS which operates across Australia and the RAHC team based across 90 Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, Darwin, Alice Springs and Canberra.

And, as Andy Stone comments, “Its really important to recognise and talk about the support staff in recruitment, HR, logistics

“Then there are the teams in the Solomon Islands, Afghanistan, Abu Dhabi, Canada and San Antonio in the USA.

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Chapter Five: An atmosphere of excellence

“Across all these is a leadership team headed by Glenn Keys, “one of the best Managing Directors I’ve ever seen” “Across all these is a leadership team headed

by Glenn Keys, “one of the best Managing Directors I’ve ever seen,” comments his business partner Andrew Walker. “And the exec team he has around him is outstanding.”

These comments are backed up by others across the company. Andy Stone, Senior Project Manager comments, “Both Glenn and Annette are inspirational. Glenn has an unyielding passion and commitment about the company and it is quite infectious, which flows onto all staff. Annette, in her business development role enables the business to grow and flourish and she is very good at it.

Her influence and contribution is fundamental to the business.”

ABOVE: The Furgo Explorer, a research and survey vessel that Aspen deployed a paramedic to provide medical support while on one of its survey voyages.

RIGHT: The inaugural board of the National Disability Insurance Agency and key executives.

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Gio Tatti, Business Development Manager shares another perspective. “Craig Fitzgerald is a fantastic and natural leader. He’s a person you don’t want to let down. He is honest and genuine and the staff and clients respect him. I’ve seen this leadership in others too.

The glass is always overflowing and the level of personal care and commitment shown by people across the company is infectious.

It engenders a great degree of loyalty.”

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

“I’ve never met anyone who can think so strategically under pressure. His style of leadership has bred a terrific work culture in the sense that it’s a very positive work atmosphere in which to work, and in terms of his energy level, the range of roles he takes on in the business and in the community. His constant focus is on looking out for, or engaging with new opportunities. It’s a great place to work.”

Matt Hughes supports this. “One of the core things Aspen has is a great team of exceptional people. Angela Cusack and Craig Fitzgerald were pivotal in the early days and now that team has grown. The team mix works and we have a can-do attitude” Annette Owttrim, one of the early executive team members, and the pivotal business development manager, adds to this. “We work in a really positive environment. We’re not micro-managed we just get on with it. We’re always looking for that new, innovative way to solve a challenge when we put our tenders together. We’re can-do people and many times we just get in and do it.”

Susan Vos provides some insight into working with Glenn.

ABOVE: Children from the Ampilwatja Community in the Northern Territory where the RAHC provides health and medical services.

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“I’ve never met anyone who can think so strategically under pressure. His style of leadership has bred a terrific work culture in the sense that it’s a very positive work atmosphere in which to work and, in terms of his energy level, the range of roles he takes on in the business and in the community. His constant focus is on looking out for, or engaging with new opportunities. It’s exciting.”

Chapter Five: An atmosphere of excellence

“ What’s around the corner . . . there’s always more” RIGHT: The inside of a Drash tent, set up to provide immediate medical facilities in rapid deployment situations.

Aspen’s mobile theatre, ‘Lorna’, follows later to provide specialist theatre capability.

This is a quote from Amanda Fracaro, Aspen’s Director of Human Resources and was made in response to what it’s like to work at Aspen.

And 2013 has been a year of yet more.

Bedding down the DoHS contract takes centre stage at this point. The sheer size and scope of the contract has almost doubled the size of the company in 8 months. Managing this growth and delivering on the contract is clearly a focus for the company.

That said, there are on-going and new projects to be brought on and managed. In the USA, Butch Poole and his team are making headway in developing strong links with the US Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration (VA). Butch and his team are based in San Antonio, Texas, which is a base for US Army Medicine, and from whence Aspen Medical USA was able to secure a contract with CACI, a US Department of Defense contractor, to support their work for the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management.

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As Dr Tom Crabtree, part owner of Aspen Healthcare Services USA comments, “VA is the biggest healthcare system in the world so developing a relationship with VA, and securing all the necessary licenses to become an approved contractor, has been a huge undertaking for Aspen and will, hopefully, lead to some major contracts in the future.

Just one military hospital has a staffing requirement of 4,000 people and there’s a multitude of these, so the scale of the potential business is significant.

“That said, we’ve created and delivered some top-level subject matter expertise as a subcontractor to Camber Corporation at the Centre for Civil Military Relations (CCMR) at the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterrey, California.

Aspen Medical USA leads the way in the design and management of the Global Health Program and delivers, among other things designing and implementing global health training initiatives, policy advisement on health

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years LEFT: Glenn Keys and Canadian politician Rob Norris, Legislative Secretary for First Nations and Metis Engagement, as well as Legislative Secretary for International Trade and International Education, Canada.

BOTTOM LEFT: Aspen Chief of Staff, Bruce Armstrong, accepts the 2013 ACT Exporter of the Year Award for Aspen from ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher.

BELOW RIGHT: Doctor Diana Richards, RAHC’s 2,000th Placement on 6 August, 2013.

engagement and health planning; conducting evaluative research, baseline assessments and literature reviews of specific health programs; and also designing and implementing global health programs with an emphasis on capacity‑building, for a country or region’s heath system. This is pretty amazing work and has given Aspen another area of growth.”

By mid-2013 the National Ambulance Company in Abu Dhabi had been in operation for 2 years and is still running well. It will provide a platform for the company to develop other projects around the region in the future.

Back in Australia, teams of Aspen people are, literally, working all over the country.

In addition, Aspen secured a contract through the McKinsey Consultancy to provide support for Department Health & Aging eHealth initiative. Whilst out of Aspen’s previous contracting specialty of providing professional health contractors, the company felt at ease in delivering on the project.

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Chapter Five: An atmosphere of excellence

“We’re changing lives for the better.

We can effect change which has a major impact on the quality of people’s lives.”

As Matt Hughes comments, “For the eHealth project we were being asked to provide capability in the area of administrative personnel. We looked at the task and broke it down as a logistics challenge. We had to provide a set number of people to undertake specific tasks at a range of locations for a specific period of time and ensure their performance to a set of outcomes. Whilst not medical professionals we had all the capability, resourcing and systems to perform. So we tendered for and won the contract.

“Phase One commenced in April 2013 and were now delivering Phase Three of the project. It’s a challenging project because not only do we have to provide the trained personnel but we’re also responsible for the accuracy and security of health information.

This required adhering to strict security protocols and providing a team of up to 40 people based in Canberra to undertake the secure data entry and verification required.

“At its peak this project has involved up to 200 personnel and resulted in over 700,000 and counting Australians signing up to the eHealth system. A particular challenge with this project was the extremely short lead time we had from being asked to tender for the project to developing a model, strategy and 91

implementation plan for the project. There were plenty of sleepless nights throughout this period, but that’s what we do because that’s what’s required.”

By its very nature, the projects that Aspen undertakes are for a defined period of time, although some can be for a period of 5-10 years. All, however, come to an end, and in February 2013 Aspen’s support to the ISF primary healthcare facility in Timor‑Leste, officially wound to a close. This was a momentous occasion because Aspen has supported the ISF since 2006 and its services have closely supported the ADF and the Australian Federal Police in bringing security and confidence to the Timorese people.

As Aspen celebrates 10 years of operation the team can be justifiably proud of what it’s built and the people it helps every day, how it helps more people in more countries and right across Australia. As Dr James Ross comments, “We’re changing lives for the better. We can effect change which has a major impact on the quality of people’s lives.”

“What hasn’t changed though,” comments Andy Stone, “is what our clients see and the high level of service they receive. We’re still delivering the high-level of care we started out delivering right at the beginning.”

Aspen Medical: Celebrating 10 years

“I also like winning . . . and people around the world are better off because of what we do.

There’s not many companies that can say that.”

Glenn Keys, shares some of his insights and vision for Aspen.

“For me it’s about communicating with people, bringing them together, working through the opportunities and the risk management issues, understanding them and developing a consensus. You identify the risk, work through the possible scenarios, then develop systems and processes to minimise the risk. It’s about understanding the risks, not walking away from them just because they’re there.

“We workshop lots of things. Many heads are better than one, and everyone gets the opportunity to bring their views and experience to the table, literally. Everyone then is also part of the answer and has also been heard in the process.

“In a way the contract we have to deliver under RAHC project comes from this kind of collaborative approach. We spent a lot of time in and around the area of Indigenous health and we learnt and adapted along the way. In July this year I was in Alice Springs to celebrate the 2,000th placement through RAHC. That’s a significant achievement by anyone’s standards.

“Some projects take years to formulate and develop. I have a saying and belief that I don’t like orphans, projects which are one-offs that we can’t learn from and take this learning into new projects and opportunities.

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“The business has changed over the years, it’s had to. We’ve gone from a company with a turnover of $500,000 to one with a turnover of $200 million in 10 years. When I started Aspen the small team I pulled together did everything. We all wrote tenders, sourced contractors, managed projects, purchased equipment and liaised with both clients and their teams. Now the core team is more specialised, but we’ve done everything and learnt lots of lessons so there is a great deal of knowledge of what has worked and what hasn’t and a desire to try new things.

“In this business environment, and in any other for that matter, if you’re not innovating you’re stagnating. You have to grow in business otherwise someone else will come and mow your lawn. Someone else will come along and take advantage of your pause and grab the opportunities you’ve been too slow or not smart enough to see.

“I want to create a company which has a model that is transportable around the world. We’re in Canada and the USA as well as the Middle East and there are specific challenges within each of these markets. But we are there developing our knowledge, contacts and looking for the opportunities. I’m driven as I want to prove the concept for the company can work in other countries.

“I also like winning . . . and people around the world are better off because of what we do.

There’s not many companies that can say that.”

www.aspenmedical.com.au