Wilson adds health service to stable
National carpark operator Wilson Group has added health services to its offering by acquiring a WA medical training and ambulance provider.
The newly formed Wilson Health unit last month took control of the 15-year-old Welshpool-based Medic One as its flagship business.
Wilson, in annual results filed with the corporate regulator, said it had invested a combined $6.4 million in Wilson Health and its new Melbourne-focused Wilson Storage subsidiary.
Medic One is expected to support other companies in the group, and combine with Wilson Security to offer services packages to mining and oil and gas projects.
"It's going to complement Wilson where it wants to grow as a company," Medic One founder and general manager Janine Nicholas said.
A paramedic originally from Tasmania, Ms Nicholas started the business in 1998. It provides medical training and other services in Welshpool, and for clients around Australia and in the United Arab Emirates.
WA's firefighters and personnel at the Amberley RAAF base in Queensland are among those trained by Medic One.
The business has a fleet of 12 ambulances used to service private clients such as Aspen Medical Group and Medibank Health Solutions. It has about 40 employees.
"We're Australia's first company offering paramedic education for every individual Australia-wide," Ms Nicholas said. "Normally that was reserved for State ambulance members only. So we broke that mould."
Ms Nicholas said she and other shareholders sold the business so it could expand. "Medic One has been my child for 15 years and it's bursting at the seams to become an adult," she said.
"It needed to grow up and it needed the right company to do that. I believe that Wilson Health was that company.
"It's a wonderful fit.
"We share the same values and ethics."
Ms Nicholas said selling Medic One enabled her to continue to doing a job she loved without the stress of running the business.
While the sale agreement contracted her to the company for two years, she planned to stay longer. "I hope it's another 15 years," she said.
The Hong Kong-owned Wilson Group reported an annual profit of about $19 million for 2012-13, up 14 per cent. It had revenue of $721 million. It operates about 300 carparks around Australia and provides security services.
