CORPORATE NEWS
6 The Ramsay Way 2019 | 04
Crown Princess
Mary visits
Ramsay hospital
Our very own Australian royal, Crown Princess
Mary of Denmark, has visited a Ramsay hospital
during an official visit to Paris.
The Danish princess wished to visit a hospital that was part
of the Ramsay Santé group, which became one of the main
players in the health care sector in Denmark, following
Ramsay’s acquisition of the Capio group late last year.
Crown Princess Mary, the Danish Minister of Health and
a delegation of health companies were welcomed by
Pascal Roché, CEO of Ramsay Santé, at the Peupliers
Private Hospital.
Located in the south of the French capital, the Peupliers
Private Hospital is one of the most important Ramsay facilities
in Paris. The delegation of 50 people visited the emergency
unit, the newly opened outpatient surgery department, the
radiotherapy department and the endoscopy service.
Ramsay delivers health care services and care from almost
500 facilities across France, Australia, Denmark, the UK,
Sweden, Norway, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Indonesia and
Hong Kong.
Federal Health Minister
tours Waverley Private
Hospital
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has spoken about
a new focus on mental health care for young patients
during a visit to Waverley Private Hospital.
Mr Hunt toured the hospital, alongside Member for Chisholm
Gladys Liu. The pair met five patients who were undergoing
treatment in the oncology ward. They also visited staff and
patients in the surgical, maternity and parenting wards.
Mr Hunt told staff about the new Children’s Mental Health
Strategy, which is being established by the Federal
Government to help tackle mental health issues in children
up to 12 years old.
Staff were also given the opportunity to ask the minister
questions about private health care and private health
insurance.
Minister Hunt said it was “a pleasure to meet the dedicated
staff and a couple of young patients at Waverley Private
Hospital.”
“Thank you to the nurses and doctors who support patients,
including the mothers, fathers and babies we met.”
Waverley Private Hospital CEO Lisa McFadden said: “It was
a privilege to have the Minister visit the hospital; our staff
appreciated the time with him and the opportunity to talk
with him about health issues.”
Mrs McFadden hosted the visit in conjunction with Director
of Clinical Services Sue Pottenger, breast and thyroid
surgeon Mr Michael Cheng, and IVF and fertility specialist
Dr Haider Najjar.
Pindara nurse a triple transplant miracle
A nurse from Pindara Private Hospital has undergone a marathon triple transplant operation to replace his
heart, both lungs and liver.
Joshua Leveridge was only the eighth person in Queensland
to undergo this type of procedure, which lasted approximately
12 hours and involved three teams of about 20 people.
He was born with cystic fibrosis – a genetic condition which
progresses as the person ages, taking a toll on internal organs.
When his health deteriorated at the start of 2018, the theatre
recovery nurse was placed on an organ transplant waiting list
which had an average wait time of two years.
Mr Leveridge said his new heart, lungs and liver all had to
come from the same donor to reduce the risk of rejection and
increase the chance of his body tolerating the new organs.
After 22 months of waiting, Mr Leveridge received the call-up
and underwent the procedure at Brisbane’s Prince Charles
Hospital in November 2019.
Mr Leveridge said: “It was just in time; the surgeons didn’t
realise how bad the situation was internally until they began
operating.”
Even though Mr Leveridge’s heart was healthy, it was less risky
for surgeons to remove the organ and replace it with a donor one.
This meant Mr Leveridge could donate his heart to another
person in need.
“Once they removed my heart, they walked about 15 metres
down the corridor and handed the organ over to a team in
another operating theatre to perform a heart transplant on
a different patient.”
Mr Leveridge was able to leave hospital 13 days after his
surgery and is re-learning how to breathe.
“Due to my bad lungs prior to the surgery, I was breathing with
the incorrect muscles. I’m now working on breathing properly
using my diaphragm.”
While he is focusing on recovering, Mr Leveridge has already
paid a visit to his colleagues at Pindara Private Hospital. His
wife Elizabeth also works at the Gold Coast facility as a clinical
nurse in theatre.
“The staff at the hospital have been amazing; my managers
have also been really supportive of my journey to date,” he said.
Mr Leveridge described his experience as “a God-given
miracle; organ donation is extremely important and very
appreciated by all involved.”
Ramsay Australia CEO Danny Sims said: “I was very lucky
to meet Joshua and Elizabeth on my recent tour of Pindara.
Joshua was only 16 days post op and we crossed paths in
the corridor whilst he was visiting his work colleagues at
the hospital. When he told me his story, I was blown away.
Joshua’s positive spirit, after all that he has been through,
inspired me greatly. I wish Joshua a full recovery.”