With the latest Aspen Medical Group failures in Fiji, we wanted to talk about some of the people behind this company. In August, we learned that Health Care Fiji’s board is made up of more Aspen Medical leaders than the Fiji National Provides Fund (FNPF) does.
FNPF has only 2 members on the board, though it holds 80% of Health Care Fiji’s shares. Meanwhile, Aspen Medical has 3 members and only 20% share in the company.
Who are these mysterious board directors? We don’t know for sure, as Health Care Fiji has not released this information. But we can assume the 3 board members come from Aspen Medical’s leadership.
So, who are the leaders behind Aspen Medical Group and its sister organization Aspen Foundation? We are going into the details in this article, so keep reading for everything you need to know.
What Is Aspen Medical Group?
Aspen Medical Group is a global healthcare provider. Founded in Australia, the company has since expanded to the US, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company also works with Indo-Pacific countries, including Fiji.
According to Aspen Medical, the purpose of their company is to help “remote or under-resourced” hospitals. They promise to deliver “innovative solutions” and are the only commercial WHO-certified Emergency Medical Team in the world.
In Fiji, the partnership between the Fijian government and Aspen Medical Group is Health Care (Fiji) Pte Ltd. This partnership is supposed to help manage Ba Regional Hospital and Lautoka Hospital.
This partnership has wreaked havoc on the healthcare system in Fiji since its beginning. But the COVID-19 pandemic has shown a spotlight on the disservices this partnership has done to the Fijian people.
Keep reading to learn more about the Aspen Medical founders and executive leaders who made these failures possible. Or out all the ways in which Aspen Medical has failed Fiji on our blog.
Aspen Foundation Executives and Board of Directors
Aspen Foundation is a charitable organization that receives profits directly from Aspen Medical. While Aspen Medical Group founder, Glenn Keys, does not operate the company, he does sit on the foundation board.
Learn more about Aspen Foundation next.
Glenn Keys, Founder and Executive Chairman
Glenn Keys is the founder of Aspen Medical Group. He also serves as Executive Chairman of the board.
Keys graduated from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering but no medical background to speak of.
Before founding Aspen Medical, Keys served in the Australian Defense Force (ADF). As you will see below, this tends to be a trend among the leaders at Aspen Medical.
Throughout his career, Keys has founded multiple private Australian companies. He currently sits on various company boards, including for Australia’s National Disability Insurance Agency.
Amelda Keys, Chair
Amelda is the wife of Glenn Keys. She currently serves as Chair of the Aspen Foundation. She is also the designated owner of Aspen Medical Group itself.
A. Keys holds a degree from the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Keys holds a social worker license as a qualification. Yet, she owns an entire medical group!
Sian Keys
Glenn Keys certainly does like to keep business in the family. His daughter, Sian Keys, also serves on the Aspen Foundation’s board.
It is unclear whether Sian Keys holds a degree, and if so, it is unclear what university or program she attended.
Craig Fitzgerald, CEO
Craig Fitzgerald is the CEO and Director of Corporate Social Responsibility of the Aspen Foundation. He is also the COO of Aspen Medical Global. He holds a Master of Management from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Fitzgerald served in the Australian Army for 20 years. That is the only career experience he had before joining Aspen Medical in 2005 (the same year he received his Master’s).
A true success story, Fitzgerald worked his way up to the top from his role as Country Manager of the Solomon Islands.
In January 2022, Aspen Medical promoted Fitzgerald to COO. His responsibilities include overseeing operations in the US, UK, EU, and APAC regions.
Aspen Medical Executive Leaders
Aspen Medical is the operations arm of Aspen Medical Group. There are three important leaders you need to know: Bruce Armstrong, the Global CEO; Annette Owttrim, the CEO of the company’s operations in Fiji; and Edwin Aisake, the Executive Director of Culture and Performance at Health Care Fiji.
Bruce Armstrong, Aspen Medical Global CEO
Bruce Armstrong is the current CEO of Aspen Medical operations. He got a promotion to this role in December 2014. Previously, he was Aspen Medical’s Global COO.
Yet another graduate from the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Armstrong earned his degree in 2006. He began his career in the Australian Defense Force in 1999 but only remained for four months.
After serving in the army, Armstrong worked in sales at various publicly traded companies (Oracle, Allomak, and NorthPoint Services). He also co-founded ICSG Group, an IGO.
Annette Owttrim, Aspen Medical Fiji CEO
Annette Owtrimm currently serves as the CEO of Health Care (Fiji) Pre Ltd. In other words, she oversees Aspen Medical’s operations in Fiji.
Owttrim has lived a pretty discreet life, and there is not much information about her online. What we did discover is that she was a nursing officer in the Australian Medical Support Force in the 1990s.
Owttrim joined Aspen Medical in March 2004, only a year after the company’s founding. She served as the Clinical division’s Business Development Director until August 2007.
In 2012, Owttrim advanced to the position of General Manager of Business Development. She served in that role until 2014.
We do not know for sure when Owttrim started serving as the CEO of Fiji. The first record of her presence in Fiji was in November 2021.
Edwin Aisake, Health Care Fiji Executive Director
Edwin Aisake is the Executive Director of Culture and Performance at Health Care Fiji. He is a human resources professional with extensive experience in the airline industry. He has also worked for the University of the South Pacific.
Aisake is a graduate of the Macquarie Graduate School of Management in Sydney, New South Wales. Australia. He also holds an MBA from the University of the South Pacific and is a Member of the Fiji Human Resources Institute.
Aisake started working for Health Care Fiji in September 2021. His LinkedIn profile mentions that he is adept at “assessing organizational challenges” and “implementing solutions” to solve them.
About Glenn Keys
Glenn Keys founded Aspen Medical in 2003. Keys says he struggled to survive in his company’s first few years.
Yet, in 2020, the company raked in $143 million in pre-tax profits, the majority of which it made from pandemic profiteering.
The multi-millionaire styles himself as a charitable philanthropist. He has founded a socially responsible real estate company and uses the Aspen Foundation to fund Australian healthcare ventures in remote locales. He also coordinated Australia’s Special Olympics from 2006 to 2008.
Here is what else you need to know about the founder and Executive Chairman of Aspen Medical.
Awards
In 2015, Australia named Keys the ACT Australian of the Year.
Also in 2015, Keys was one of the six recipients of Australia’s Export Hero award.
In 2017, the Australian government honoured keys with an Order of Australia officership.
Also in 2017, Ernst & Young named Keys the runner-up for World Entrepreneur of the Year.
In January 2022, the government also appointed Keys Chairman of the Australian Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Council.
Aspen Medical’s Co-Founder
It is a little-known fact that Glenn Keys did not come up with the idea for Aspen Medical alone. His colleague, Andrew Walker, also helped him open the company’s doors in 2003.
Walker holds an MBA from the University of Melbourne and a Bachelor’s in Medical Science from the University of Newcastle. He also holds a Diploma in Musculoskeletal Medicine from the University of Otago.
Like many Aspen Medical employees, Walker served in the ADF from 1985 to 1991. He went on to co-found Aspen Medical in 2003. Walker served as co-Executive Chairman of the board until January 2020.
Since leaving Aspen Medical, Walker has thrived. He helped find AMI Expeditionary Healthcare in Washington, DC, US.
For unknown reasons, Walker left his role with the business at the end of 2019. We can only assume that, as the company’s only medical expert on the board, he saw the writing on the wall.
It Is Time to Hold Aspen Medical Accountable
Glenn Keys and Andrew Walker founded Aspen Medical in 2003. Today, Bruce Armstrong serves as the company’s Global CEO. Annette Owttrim is the CEO of Aspen Medical in Fiji.
Aspen Medical Group has failed Fiji. Only we can hold this company accountable. Get educated and read this article to learn more about Aspen Medical Group’s immense failures.
