Development Acurity’s focus

IAN ENGLAND, new chief executive of private healthcare provider Acurity Health, says the listed company is well positioned but faces challenging market conditions.

Acurity, formerly known as Wakefield Health, reported a net profit after tax of $5.9 million in the year to March, down from $6m a year earlier. Its revenue fell 1.1 per cent.

Meanwhile, the insurance costs for its properties skyrocketed another 50 per cent after the 100 per cent increase it had in the previous financial year. Its premiums rose to $1.63 million in the 2013 year, compared to only $550,000 in the 2010 year before the devastating earthquakes that hit Canterbury changed the insurance industry.

At Acurity’s annual general meeting yesterday England said the company was focused on finalising its plans to redevelop Wellington’s Newtown property Wakefield Hospital, which sits on 2.2ha with three street entrances.

‘‘The issue of the Wakefield redevelopment is the largest issue we face and resolution of this is my main priority,’’ England said. ‘‘In the interim, Wakefield Hospital faces challenges on how to best perform in both its business development and cost structure in continuing review.’’

While revenues from private treatments fell, Acurity experienced growth in ACC-funded surgery in line with other hospitals around New Zealand. The cost of some medical supplies, especially orthopaedic implants and cardiac stents, had eased.

England started in the role of Acurity chief executive on July 1 after seven years as the general manager of 250-bed St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital in Brisbane, and has a PhD in health management. He previously lived in Wellington in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Acurity’s share price fell 1.9 per cent to $4.22 yesterday.