Defence outsources Puckapunyal health

Aspen Medical has taken over the provision of all health services including general practice dental procedures at the Puckapunyal Military Area (PMA) for the Australian Department of Defence.

This is the first time that the complete health services for an entire Australian base have been successfully outsourced to a commercial provider by the Australian Defence Force. The Puckapunyal Military Area (PMA) is a major Army training base situated near Seymour, Victoria, 100km north of Melbourne. The PMA covers an area of some 50,000 hectares. The Puckapunyal Cantonments Area, situated in the southeast corner of the PMA, and comprising an area of approximately 2000 hectares, contains various unit compounds and training and recreational facilities, and 424 married quarters. PMA has a permanent population of 1,100 ADF personnel. A minimum of 50,000 students, range users and visitors visit PMA each year. The range users cover a broad spectrum from recruits, to officer cadets, to personnel training before deployment overseas. Aspen will be responsible for the Provision of Primary Health Care Services; Provision of Allied Health Services; Low Dependency Care Services; General Practice Dental Services; Specialist Outpatient Services; Administration of all Inpatient Services; and Diagnostic Services.