Labtests Auckland to deliver quality services

Friday 14 July 2006

Labtests Auckland to deliver high quality laboratory services

Labtests Auckland has committed itself to delivering high quality standards of laboratory services to the Auckland region and its surrounds, which are aligned with the needs and expectations of patients and their doctors.

The company is pleased to have been chosen to become the sole provider of primary referred laboratory services to the communities served by the Auckland District Health Board, the Waitemata District Health Board and the Counties Manukau District Health Board (the Auckland Region District Health Boards - ARDHBs).

The long-term contract, awarded following a stringent selection process, covers all laboratory tests referred by health professionals in these regions and takes effect from July 2007 following an orderly transition process.

Labtests Auckland is a consortium representing a partnership between longestablished local Auckland laboratory knowledge and health sector management expertise and the experience and financial backing of listed Australian public company, Healthscope Limited.

Dr Tony Bierre, Chief Executive Officer of Labtests Auckland, is a qualified pathologist and former service supplier to the region. The major consortium shareholder is Healthscope Limited, a leading provider of pathology services in Australia and New Zealand, and the second largest owner/operator of private hospitals in Australia.

Dr Bierre said the company looked forward to providing high quality, accessible and affordable laboratory services to the people of the Auckland region and its surrounds.

.We are proud to have been entrusted with this important contract and are absolutely committed to working closely with the District Health Boards to provide patients and their health professionals with high quality diagnostic support to help enhance clinical outcomes,. Dr Bierre said.

_ .Labtests Auckland considers laboratory services from the patient perspective . we ask what they want and then focus on how best we can deliver it. Our business philosophy ensures a customer-driven rather than provider-driven service..

Under the confidential contract, Labtests Auckland has signalled its willingness to institute a more open and transparent cost structure with the ARDHBs to help them make their health budgets go further in addressing community needs.

For the first time, the contract-holder will be subject to meeting key performance indicators, including targets for turnaround times. This will make the role more accountable than ever before.

The contract also allows for ongoing certainty of employment for the experienced laboratory staff currently providing laboratory services in this region.

.Importantly, we acknowledge the existing expertise and value of the present laboratory workforce and look forward to many of these laboratory professionals becoming essential members of the Labtests Auckland group,. Dr Bierre said.

Background Information

Labtests Auckland Labtests Auckland is a trans-Tasman consortium comprising Healthscope Limited, Lab Tests Auckland Limited, Labtest Support Services Limited and employed pathologists/senior management.

Healthscope

The major shareholder of the Labtests Auckland group is Healthscope Limited.

Healthscope Limited is a premier integrated quality healthcare provider and the second largest private hospital operator in Australia. Its core businesses are private hospital operation and pathology and its pathology business operates in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia. The Company was established in 1985 and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1994. The chairman of the board is Kevin McCann and chief executive officer is Bruce Dixon.

Healthscope owns and operates Northland Pathology Laboratory, a community laboratory that serves the Northland region. It also owns and operates veterinary testing laboratories throughout New Zealand, with laboratories in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Dr Tony Bierre

After graduating from the University of Auckland School of Medicine, Tony trained as a histopathologist and cytopathologist in Auckland gaining his Fellowship of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia in 1983. He then held fellowship positions at Duke University Medical Centre and the Brigham and Women.s Hospital in the USA. Following this he was consultant pathologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney. He returned to Auckland in 1989 and spent the next 13 years in community laboratory practice. He is currently a senior lecturer (part-time) at the University of Auckland. He is a fellow of the International Academy of Cytology, past President of New Zealand Society of Cytology, and past President of the Auckland Division of the New Zealand Medical Association. He completed an MBA degree at the University of Otago Business School in 2004.

ENDS

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