Can a group of aged care providers move faster on transformation than Governments alone? Whiddon is betting on it.
Six 12-week Collaborative Health Care (CHC) Initiative pilots are now live across regional NSW, bringing aged care providers, hospitals, insurers, and Government agencies together to tackle some of the biggest pressure points in health and aged care – from hospital discharge bottlenecks to shared staffing, procurement and transport.
Whiddon CEO Chris Mamarelis (pictured above) says the trials are already delivering valuable lessons.
The shared workforce project, for example, has faced less demand than expected, partly because overseas recruitment has eased immediate shortages. Even so, Chris wants a rapid-deployment protocol in place so hospitals and providers can quickly share staff when gaps re-emerge.
Transitional beds the “silver bullet”
With 2,500 older patients waiting for aged care in hospitals across the country, the transitional beds pilot is proving critical.
Current discharge processes are, in Chris’ words, “too clunky” and bogged down by red tape. The CHC Initiative is now pushing for an agile agreement supported by technology to pinpoint vacant aged care beds in real time – with dashboards endorsed by State and Federal health departments seen as the “silver bullet” to unblocking capacity.
Next steps: evaluation and scale
Other projects – from wellbeing programs for long-stay hospital patients to shared procurement leveraging NSW Health’s buying power – are also progressing. The aim: have measurable outcomes and a University of Sydney evaluation underway by early 2026.
For Chris, the real strength of the initiative lies in dismantling silos.
“There are people in hospital beds that may be suitable for aged care… it all started with silos,” he underlined. “We have to pull those silos down.”
The CHC Initiative has already attracted strong engagement from NSW Health, with governance structures set to follow once the pilots mature. The next step: prove what works and scale it fast.
