PATHOLOGICAL LABORATORIES – AUSTRALIA

Health department records show some pathology companies rorted Medicare during COVID pandemic, expert says

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Original article by Alison Branley
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 16-Jul-24

Documents obtained under freedom of information laws have revealed that some pathology companies rorted Medicare during the pandemic, with one doctor claiming 21,000 tests in a single day. The documents also reveal cases where pathology companies were operating state-government funded pop-up and drive-through testing clinics, but billing Medicare; the federal government was already half-funding the state centres under a national partnership agreement. Health economist Professor Stephen Duckett says the documents show there was "systematic rorting on a very large scale", which reflects very badly on the pathology sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HUMAN SERVICES. MEDICARE AUSTRALIA

COVID testing firm kept $12m in JobKeeper cash amid soaring profits

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Original article by Clay Lucas
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 11-Nov-21

Pathological group Australian Clinical Labs has been a beneficiary of both the federal government’s COVID-19 testing program and the JobKeeper wage subsidy. The company’s revenue increased by 29 per cent in 2020-21, while its after-tax profit rose from $11.7m to $88.7m. Australian Clinical Labs received JobKeeper payments totalling $34.3m over the last two financial years, but it repaid just $21.9m. Australian Clinical Labs’ annual report for 2020 notes that revenue fell sharply in the months immediately following the onset of the pandemic in March of that year, making the firm eligible for JobKeeper. The company also receives a government subsidy for every COVID-19 test it performs.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN CLINICAL LABS LIMITED – ASX ACL

China’s $2b swoop on health giant

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Original article by Carrie LaFrenz
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 4-Jan-19

Shares in pathology, imaging and medical centres operator Healius closed 7.8 per cent higher at $2.63 on 3 January, in response to a takeover bid from Jangho Group. The Chinese company already has a 15.93 per cent stake in Healius and is offering $3.25 per share. Healius, which changed its name from Primary Health Care in late 2018, has advised shareholders to take no action regarding the unsolicited offer at present. It has stressed that Jangho’s approach may not necessarily result in a deal.

CORPORATES
HEALIUS LIMITED – ASX HLS, JANGHO GROUP, VISION EYE INSTITUTE LIMITED, MONASH IVF GROUP LIMITED – ASX MVF, HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED, APA GROUP – ASX APA, HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES COMPANY LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES LIMITED – ASX API, SIGMA HEALTHCARE LIMITED – ASX SIG, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, KING AND WOOD MALLESONS, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Symptoms mask flu trend

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Original article by Jessica Gardner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 27-Jul-15

Australian pathology laboratories reported some 9,594 cases of flu during the June 2015 quarter, compared with just 4,591 in the previous corresponding period. Influenza Specialist Group chairman Alan Hampson says anecdotal evidence suggests that Australians have contracted flu earlier than usual in 2015. In contrast, Primary Health Care recently attributed lower patient numbers during the quarter to factors such as a less severe cold and flu season.

CORPORATES
INFLUENZA SPECIALIST GROUP, PRIMARY HEALTH CARE LIMITED – ASX PRY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, SONIC HEALTHCARE LIMITED – ASX SHL

Healthscope offloads pathology business

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Original article by Tim Binsted
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 24-Jun-15

Crescent Capital has paid $A105m for the pathology assets of Australian-listed Healthscope, with the deal comprising a cash component of $A92.5m and a $A12.5m promissory note. Healthscope CEO Robert Cooke says the deal will allow the group to focus on its core business of private hospitals. In addition to Healthscope’s pathology laboratories and collection centres, the private equity firm will also buy a portfolio of six skin clinic.

CORPORATES
HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO, CRESCENT CAPITAL PARTNERS LIMITED, SONIC HEALTHCARE LIMITED – ASX SHL, PRIMARY HEALTH CARE LIMITED – ASX PRY, TPG CAPITAL LP, THE CARLYLE GROUP, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NATIONAL DENTAL CARE PTY LTD, LIFEHEALTHCARE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LHC, NATIONAL HEARING CARE LIMITED, SOUTHERN SUN SKIN CANCER CLINICS

End of an era for Primary Health Care as founder ‘Dr Ed’ Bateman retires

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Original article by Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 19 : 25-Nov-14

The 2014 AGM of Primary Health Care will hear that founder and MD Edmund Bateman is planning to retire soon, due to ill health. The medical centres as well as pathology and radiology services operator has engaged Sheldon Harris Management Consulting to identify a successor, and among the internal frontrunners are sons Henry and James Bateman. Their father has been at the helm for some three decades, and suffered his main setback when the acquisition of rival Symbion coincided with the start of the global financial crisis in 2008

CORPORATES
PRIMARY HEALTH CARE LIMITED – ASX PRY, SYMBION HEALTH LIMITED, AUSBIL DEXIA LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, SWIMMING AUSTRALIA, SHELDON-HARRIS PTY LTD, RUSSELL REYNOLDS ASSOCIATES INCORPORATED, SPENCER STUART AND ASSOCIATES