Aspen Medical is a privately owned Australian-based health service company with operations in Australia and internationally.[1] The company headquarters are in Canberra with offices in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth, and international offices in Washington, D.C., Abu Dhabi and Port Moresby.[2] In the 2021-2022 financial year, the company recorded a total turnover of A$311,626,612, with taxable income of A$40,743,671, and paid A$11,945,466 corporate tax.[3] In 2018, Aspen Medical was recognised as the Australian Exporter of the Year, and in 2021 was inducted into the Australian Export Hall of Fame.[4]
The company was founded in 2003 by Glenn Keys AO[5] and Dr Andrew Walker. As of 2024, Aspen Medical has operations in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji,[6] Indonesia,[7] United Arab Emirates,[8] Somalia,[9] the US,[10] and Ukraine.[11]
In 2022, Aspen Medical fell under media scrutiny due to large-scale procurement contracts totalling more than $1 billion awarded during the COVID-19 pandemic.[12]
In 2005, the company was awarded a contract to provide health services to Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel at Puckapunyal Military Area. This was followed by a similar contract at the ADF base at Albury Wodonga Military Area in 2007.[15]
Aspen Medical has worked in remote areas in Australia through: developing the Western Australia Resources Aero Medical Evacuation for seven oil and gas companies working in the North West Shelf off WA;[16] establishing the Remote Area Health Corps to provide Primary Health Care to remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory in 2008;[17] supporting an existing joint venture between CareFlight and Pel-Air to provide air ambulance services out of Darwin International Airport and, since 2011 administering the Australian Government's Nursing and Allied Health Rural Locum Scheme (NAHRLS). This scheme provides short term locum staff to rural and remote locations in Australia to relieve permanent residential staff undertaking professional development or taking leave.[18] In 2016, NAHRLS was amalgamated with the Rural Obstetric and Anaesthetic Locum Scheme (ROALS) and the Rural Locum Education Assistance Program (Rural LEAP) and was subsequently renamed the Rural Locum Assistance Program (Rural LAP).[19] In 2022, the program was expanded by the Australian Government to provide support to eligible aged care services in rural and remote Australia.[20]
Between 2012 and 2016, the firm provided sub-contracted medical services with approximately 1000 staff at over fifty Defence sites Australia-wide.[21][22] At that time, it was the largest services tender for healthcare professionals conducted by the ADF Joint Health Command. The company was also delivering 'Care of Battle Casualty' first aid training to ADF personnel deploying to the Middle East.[23]
In 2013, Aspen Medical employed more than 2000 staff and had a turnover of around $163,000,000 AUD.[24]
Dr Andrew Walker exited the company in late 2019.[25] Glenn Keys' family trust bought out Dr Walker several weeks before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Walker received an undisclosed sum for his shareholding and full control of several of the company's subsidiaries.[26]
In January 2019, Aspen Medical signed a 23-year Public Private Partnership (PPP) with the Fiji Government to manage and develop the public hospitals at Ba and Lautoka.[6][27] Health Care (Fiji) Pte Limited, a joint venture company between Aspen Medical and the Fiji National Provident Fund, commenced operations at the hospitals in April 2022.[28]
In June 2023, Sanusa Medika Hospitals, a joint venture majority-owned by Aspen Medical and Docta, a company owned by Australian physician Dr Andrew Rochford, began construction of a 200-bed hospital in Depok, West Java.[7]
2004–17 Solomon Islands
In 2004, Aspen Medical was contracted to deliver healthcare services, including a hospital, to RAMSI personnel and Australian Government employees in Solomon Islands. The facility, situated at Guadalcanal Beach Resort (GBR) near Honiara, featured a 10-bed ward, pharmacy, dental and pathology services, environmental health, administration, and storage. Aspen Medical also conducted aero-medical evacuations and operated a mobile surgical unit with radiology, an operating room, and an intensive care/recovery unit.[29]
2006–14 Timor-Leste
In 2006, Aspen Medical was contracted by PDL Toll, the prime contractor, to support the Australian Defence Force in Timor-Leste. Aspen Medical designed the healthcare facility and provided all staff. The company provided primary healthcare, radiology, pathology, dental, emergency care and surgery.[30][14]
2014–15 West Africa Ebola Outbreak
Aspen Medical managed the Australian Government's response to the Ebola virus disease (EVD). This response involved commissioning and managing a 100-bed Ebola Treatment Centre (ETC), constructed by the UK Government in Sierra Leone. Aspen Medical managed the ETC from December 2014 to April 2015.
The Sierra Leone ETC admitted 216 patients. In addition to the Ebola survivors, the ETC contributed to the treatment of 120 survivors of serious conditions other than Ebola.[31]
2017-2018 Mosul, Iraq
In March 2017, Aspen Medical was contracted by the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide healthcare professionals and hospital management, including maternity services, at 48-bed field hospital south of Mosul in northern Iraq during fighting between ISIS and the Iraqi Army.[32][33]
A further two field trauma hospitals and maternity units opened over the following months around Mosul. The facilities saw 47,890 patients and 2,997 babies born.[34]
2020 - 2023 COVID-19 Pandemic
In January 2020, Aspen Medical managed infection prevention and control for the first repatriation flights back to Australia from Wuhan in China. Early in the pandemic, the company also managed the first round of hotel quarantine at the Swissotel in Sydney. The Japanese Ministry of Health contracted Aspen Medical to manage the quarantine of the crew on the Diamond Princess cruise liner when it docked in Yokohama. The company also managed quarantine on the Grand Princess when it anchored in San Francisco Bay.[26][35]
In March 2020, the Australian Government Department of Health launched an online infection prevention and control training portal with the assistance of Aspen Medical.[36] The training took approximately 30 minutes to complete with a quiz at the end and was aimed primarily at health professionals and allied health workers, those working in aged care, childcare, and disability settings.[37] On 11 March 2020, the Australian Government announced a A$2.4 billion plan to protect all Australians from COVID-19, with the package providing support across primary care, aged care, hospitals, research and the national medical stockpile.[38] The plan provided for a national network of up to 100 GP-led respiratory clinics. Aspen Medical was contracted to oversee the building of the pop-up respiratory clinics.[39] The first GP-led respiratory clinics opened on 21 March 2020 at Macquarie Park in Sydney and Morayfield in Brisbane.[40] The 100th pop-up clinic opened on 13 May 2020 in Mudgee, New South Wales.[41]
In March 2020, Aspen Medical secured four contracts from the Australian Government, totaling A$1.1 billion, to procure medical supplies for the National Medical Stockpile (NMS).[26] The Australian Government Department of Health awarded over 50 contracts to 44 different suppliers of and other medical supplies to the NMS.[42] A May 2021 report by the Australian National Audit Office noted that "Procurement processes for the COVID-19 NMS procurements were largely consistent with the proper use and management of public resources."[42]
On 2 April 2020, an Aspen Medical team contracted by Australian Border Force boarded the Ruby Princess cruise ship to conduct a medical assessment of the crew following a much-publicized COVID-19 outbreak on the ship.[43] The ship then sailed to Port Kembla on the south coast of New South Wales arriving on 6 April 2022. An Aspen Medical team, led by former WHO pandemic expert Dr Ian Norton, assessed the health of the ship's 1040 crew members, conducted COVID-19 testing and implemented infection prevention and control protocols onboard.[44][45] The ship sailed from Port Kembla on 16 April 2020.[46]
In April 2020, Aspen Medical was contracted by the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government to design and build a temporary hospital in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[47] Known as the Garran Surge Centre, the facility was located on Garran Oval, a sports field to the northeast of the existing Canberra Hospital campus.[48] On 21 May 2020, the hospital was opened after only 37 days of construction.[49] Shortly after, on 24 May 2020, ACT health authorities announced the hospital would likely remain unused due to the successful prevention of a major outbreak in the ACT.[50] The facility was never used for its intended purpose as a respiratory intensive care unit but was instead repurposed as a COVID-19 testing and assessment center,[51] and later as a vaccination hub.[52]
on 13 April 2020, the Australian Government announced that Aspen Medical had been "engaged to deploy the emergency response teams immediately to an aged care facility if a significant outbreak occurs".[53] Shortly after the announcement, Aspen Medical sent a team to Newmarch House in the Nepean Valley where an outbreak of COVID-19 had begun on 11 April 2020.[54] Media attention focused on two members of the Aspen Medical team sent to Newmarch House who had previously been on board the Ruby Princess whilst it was docked in Port Kembla.[54] Aspen Medical said in a statement that "both of the workers who had boarded the Ruby Princess tested negative for Covid-19 before being deployed to the aged-care home".[54] NSW Government's Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant confirmed in a press conference held on 6 May 2020 that Aspen Medical's team was not the source of any transmission of the virus at the Newmarch House residential aged care facility.[55] In July 2020, Aspen Medical was requested to send a surge team to another high-profile outbreak at the Fawkner location of St Basil’s Homes for the Aged in Victoria.[56] Media reporting suggested that the company was taking over the management of the facility. Aspen Medical clarified its role as a provider of last resort and one of over 20 companies assisting at St Basil’s and was not managing the facility.[57] An inquest into deaths at the facility began in November 2021.[58] The chair of St Basil’s Kon Kontis and the facility manager Vicky Kos refused to give evidence on the basis that they could incriminate themselves. Kontis and Kos lost their appeal against giving evidence in the Court of Appeal in December 2022, with the court upholding the decision reached in the Supreme Court of Victoria in August 2022.[59]
On 21 January 2021, the Australian Government announced that Aspen Medical, along with other healthcare providers, had been appointed to provide a vaccine workforce to supplement the existing immunization workforce for specific vulnerable groups across Australia.[60] Logistics and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine was contracted to DHL Supply Chain and Linfox by the Australian Government.[61]
The Lautoka Hospital and Ba Sub-acute Hospital, serving Fiji's Western Division, collectively offer 400 inpatient beds for approximately 365,000 people. Services encompass general medicine, surgery, comprehensive maternity services outpatient care, intensive care, coronary care, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), paediatric intensive care unit (PICU), emergency services, pharmacy, pathology, and radiography.[62]
Under Aspen Medical's management, new services include cardiothoracic surgery, expanded critical care services and oncology, digital medical imaging and pathology, along with enhanced diabetes services. Notable additions involve open-heart surgeries, advanced imaging modalities like CT and MRI and upgraded facilities for diabetes management and mammography. [63][64][65]
In January 2024, day surgeries recommenced at Ba Hospital after a one-year hiatus attributed largely to staffing challenges.[66]
Indonesia
Sanusa Medika Hospitals, a joint venture majority-owned by Aspen Medical and Dr Andrew Rochford's Docta Pty Limited, began construction of a 200-bed hospital in Depok, West Java in June 2023. The hospital is the first of a planned 23 hospitals and 650 community clinics by the joint venture, which also includes Indonesian state-owned enterprise PT Jasa Sarana, which has a 10% stake in the joint venture company.[7]
Aspen Medical has partnered with the US-based Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine to undertake a study into Ukraine’s combat casualty care and the lessons learnt from the first large-scale conflict fought between two countries in Europe since World War II. This work has been commissioned by the US Department of Defense, with the findings supporting Ukraine’s medical capabilities through data analysis and training and developing lessons for US and allied forces.[11]
Somalia
Aspen Medical has been operating in Somalia since December 2022 under contract to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM). The company provides staff to the hospital at Mogadishu Airport and clinical services at the UN Support Office in Somalia.[69]
Papua New Guinea
Aspen Medical operates a general practice clinic in Port Moresby. The clinic includes a low-dependency day ward and on-site x-ray, pharmaceutical and laboratory capabilities. The clinic conducts primary health and occupational health services with the ability to conduct minor surgical procedures.[70]
Corporate social impact
In February 2024, Aspen Medical and its charitable organisation, Aspen Medical Foundation, funded a prosthetic limb plus all travel and accommodation expenses for 8-year-old Fijian schoolchild Elenoa Gukiwasa.[71] The child had lost her left arm following a traffic accident involving a school bus near Lautoka Hospital in June 2023.[72]
On 16 February 2024, the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) announced the 22 recipients of the ‘Bullwinkel Scholarships’ on the anniversary of the massacre on Bangka Island, Indonesia, on 16 February 1942. The scholarships carry the names of the 21 nurses who died and the sole survivor, Lt Col Vivian Bullwinkel. The scholarship in the name of Lt Col Bullwinkel has been funded by the Aspen Medical Foundation.[73]
Controversy
Four Corners program
In May 2022, Aspen Medical featured on the ABC's program Four Corners.[74][75] A segment in the episode alleged the company's involvement in financial misconduct whilst acting as a sub-contractor to EN-Projects, the prime contractor for the construction of Hambantota General Hospital, during the presidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2012. The transaction in question was a payment made to Sabre Vision Holdings, owned by Nimal Perera, a Sri Lankan businessman who also has close ties with the Rajapaksa family. Perera has since served legal notice of a defamation case to the ABC for the accusations.[76]
Shortly after the Four Corners episode aired, Aspen Medical issued a media release in response to the allegation to clarify the nature of their work in Sri Lanka. Aspen Medical stated that the delivery of services in Sri Lanka was verified, and the payments authorized, by prime contractor EN-Projects,[57] and on 1 February 2024, issued an updated statement stating that "Allegations made by the ABC progam Four Corners on 2 May 2022 have been thoroughly investigated by numerous national and international government bodies with no findings against Aspen Medical Pty Limited."[77]
Awards
2023 Diversity Council Australia Inclusive Employer[78]
