Tasmanians understand better than anyone else the power of a connected community and what we can achieve together when we collaborate, writes St.LukesHealth CEO Paul Lupo.
I never cease to be amazed at the Tasmanian community’s natural ability to come together for a common goal. Our collective capacity to collaborate, with a shared sense of purpose and pride, has allowed us to do things differently to other states.
This is a reality that should be capitalised by other local organisations, to think outside the square and set even more adventurous goals, knowing we are in the right place to achieve them.
It was our confidence in the community’s ability to work and find solutions together, that allowed St.LukesHealth to set our ambitious vision to make Tasmania the healthiest island on the planet.
When it comes to our health and wellbeing, collaboration is critical. If there’s one thing we have learned in the health sector, it’s that simply throwing money at a problem doesn’t buy you a solution.
At St.LukesHealth we’ve always advocated for a holistic approach to our health system. We know from experience that exploring public and private partnerships strengthens our response to health challenges.
Working with other Tasmanian individuals, organisations and governments to find ways to make our communities healthier and happier is inherent in everything we do as a business.
This is demonstrated in our collaboration with the Department of Health and our northern health partners on the co-located hospital in Launceston. We surveyed our members to inform our advocacy efforts for the right services in the right settings.
It is demonstrated in our pilot program delivered in partnership with Keiser, designed to prevent Tasmanians from having avoidable hip or knee joint replacement surgery, taking pressure off the state’s surgery waiting lists.
Our collaborations even extend to our member product offerings, partnering with other Tasmanian organisations, including local IGA supermarkets and Bank of us, to ease the burden of rising living costs.
We are currently bringing together a coalition to create a smoke free generation in the face of rising rates of teen smoking for the first time in 25 years.
And finally, our two major builds in the north and south of the state are bringing together Tasmanian architects, builders, manufacturers, craftsmen and designers to create beautiful, calm and welcoming health spaces the whole community can access and enjoy.
Today, we open the doors to the public on the first of our community health and wellbeing hubs, right in the heart of Hobart’s CBD.
This prime location, accessible to all, will be so much more than a transactional space – we were determined to build something exciting and inclusive that goes to the heart of Tasmanians’ health and wellbeing.
A place where we could put our vision into practice – where the community can start taking small steps to improve their health and wellbeing, in a really tangible, accessible way.
Through working with other Tasmanian organisations we have already locked in a broad variety of programs, ensuring the space is genuinely a place for everyone.
Building our Tasmanian brand instils confidence to invest, confidence in ourselves as a state, and allows us to raise our expectations for ourselves.
For St.LukesHealth, that confidence allowed us to set our bold vision, which has in turn enabled us to attract good professionals, hungry for challenge and opportunity, back into the state and into our business.
But we couldn’t do all that on our own of course. Collaboration has supported us to lift the bar for ourselves.
Tasmania is small and special and that allows us to do things differently. Let’s capitalise on this, with the confidence to take considered risk and invest in our community’s ability to collaborate.
Paul Lupo is the CEO of Tasmanian not-for-profit health insurance provider St.LukesHealth.