DESTRAVIS - Key Persons


Andy Foo

Job Titles:
  • Senior Cost Planner
Andy is a self-motivated professional with over 18 years' experience as a Quantity Surveyor in the construction and building industry. . Andy is a self-motivated professional with over 20 years' experience as a Quantity Surveyor in the construction and building industry. The combination of consulting experience and estimating for building contractors provides Andy a thorough understanding of complete project costing, market capability, trade breakdowns and elemental pricing. Andy has strong technical and analytical skills which assist in the production of robust, accurate cost plans. He also has a detailed working knowledge of CostX and @Risk software which are implemented for detailed measures and further accuracy of project cost plans.

Ann Allenby

Job Titles:
  • Cilnical Lead / Senior Health Planner
As an experienced health professional, Ann has a rare combination of skills including executive, strategic, planning, operational, leadership, project management and research skills. As a natural collaborator she have a track record of successful strategic development and project management particularly in the implementation of innovative models of care and workforce roles. Her diversity of qualifications and experience brings a broad and comprehensive knowledge of the Australian Health system, including the enablers, challenges and policy contexts. Ann is able rise to the challenge and in collaboration with partners help solve complex problems that benefit the consumers of healthcare - the patient and their carers.

Anna Davis

Job Titles:
  • Contributor
  • Senior Service Planner
Anna is a health system policy, planning and program implementation professional with over 20 years' experience across public and private sectors. Anna is a strategic thinker and leader; project management, governance, risk management and stakeholder engagement specialist; and a skilled communicator. Over the past 10 years within the Queensland Department of Health, Anna has been a significant contributor to ongoing reform of the mental health, alcohol and other drug (MHAOD) sector. Anna has led state-wide strategy and planning for Queensland and has delivered large scale, complex state-funded projects, including high value infrastructure projects.

Anthony Colwell

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director
Anthony is experienced senior consultant providing strategy and analysis to health services and state health departments in Australia and New Zealand. Anthony is experienced in providing consulting services to health services and state health departments in Australia. He has assisted organisations through analysis of data for service planning, workforce planning, benchmarking, systems monitoring and modelling of process improvement initiatives. He brings a high level of analytical skills coupled with a proven ability to synthesise data, interpret results and prepare communication to a variety of professional areas. Anthony's recent deliverables have included Detailed Business Cases, Option Studies and Feasibility Reports. As an experienced project leader, Anthony has highly developed project management skills including the ability to scope and plan projects, manage task delivery, and to liaise and negotiate with clients, interested and periphery stakeholders to deliver high quality products that meet or exceed expectations.

Deborah Page

Job Titles:
  • Senior Health Planner
Deborah is a driven, focused and resilient leader with public and private health sector experience in supporting the delivery of some of South Australia's most iconic health projects. She draws on a unique background blending clinical, accounting and project management experience. Deborah is a driven, focused and resilient leader with public and private sector experience in supporting the delivery of some of South Australia's most iconic health projects. She has a strong understanding of end to end process design, in particular shaping and transforming health services at a directorate, hospital and state-wide level. Deborah has a deep understanding of industry best practice across the Australian Health Infrastructure landscape, builds strategic relationships at all levels, characterised by a high level of stakeholder cooperation, communication and mutual respect, influences others to act in support of ideas.

Dr Kate Johnston

Job Titles:
  • Consultant
  • Executive
Kate is a progressive healthcare business operations leader, researcher and academic who excels in rapidly changing environments requiring smart decision-making. She has distinguished herself through performance leading and establishment of efficient operations in start-ups and high-growth research organisations. Kate has extensive skill in biomedical and translational research institute environments for enhanced healthcare outcomes, including prevention, diagnosis and therapies and is recognized for astuteness in operations, finance and technology solutions with experience in three successful biomedical institutes. Her current leadership portfolio includes: Leadership: grew a strong operations support team from 2 to 53 in less than 3 years with excellent talent retention. Finance and budget: successfully designed, implemented and delivered start-up operations, streamlining services and processes to provide support within tight budgets. Risk mitigation: established risk framework for Board of Directors: Audit, Risk and Finance Committees. Capital Infrastructure: Oversaw all operational and research aspects of the AUD$354M build and post-completion operations of new facility.

Dr. John Holm

Job Titles:
  • Senior Consultant
John brings a unique perspective to the space planning process, focusing on how people work and interact with each other as a basis for planning, specialising in the higher education and health sectors. He is particularly interested in how to support multi-disciplinary teams who work across multiple locations, working on a wide variety of projects focused on teaching and learning, as well as research activities. John draws on principles of Appreciative Inquiry and Complex Systems Thinking to develop strategies that enable the future strategic goals of an organisation, while ensuring their day to day operational requirements are not compromised. He brings a sociological approach to design problems, focusing on how to support communities of practice during time of change, be those changes in organisational structures, operation procedures or in the physical location; and frequently in all three simultaneously.

Dr. Richard Ashby

Job Titles:
  • Subject Matter Expert
Dr Ashby is one of Australia's most experienced clinician executives and a subject matter expert in digital health. Dr Ashby is one of Australia's most experienced clinician executives. For two decades he occupied a number of senior health executive roles including Executive Director of Medical Services at both the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Executive Director of the Princess Alexandra Hospital and Chief Executive of the Metro South Hospital and Health Service, the latter serving a population of 1.3 million with an operating budget of $2.3 billion. In 2017, Dr Ashby was appointed by the Minister for Health to the position of Chief Executive of eHealth Queensland, responsible for an operating budget of over $400 million and a capital portfolio of over 100 IT projects with a combined value of over $1 billion. The largest of these projects - the $612 million ieMR Program - has now successfully rolled out to 16 hospitals covering 60% of Queensland Health clinical activity with over 50,000 users undertaking 18 million transactions per day. Dr. Ashby joined Destravis in 2020 to provide specialist advice, underpinned by extensive benchmarks and lessons learnt from the development and implementation of digital technologies and systems in health facilities.

Georges Chedid

Job Titles:
  • Design Director - Victoria
Georges has extensive experience in Architectural & Healthcare Design, Project Management and Planning which includes space utilization, master planning, conceptual work, phasing, brief development, client needs' analysis, design procurement and contract management. George has extensive experience in Architectural & Healthcare Design, Project Management and Planning which includes space utilization, master planning, conceptual work, phasing, brief development, client needs' analysis, design procurement and contract management. He is skilled in instigating and directing planning at all stages of design ensuring delivery of purposeful, efficient, and comprehensive facilities. Incorporating the latest technological trends while constantly responding to new operational models, evidence-based design principles and sustainable practices. With strong design and architectural experience as well as high technical background in engineering systems for a wide spectrum of facilities, allows him to manage multidisciplinary teams throughout all stages of the design process ensuring the production of deliverables conforming to Australia.

Glenn Hokin

Job Titles:
  • Senior Data Analyst
  • Health Care Specialist
Glenn is a health care specialist. His career in health spans over 20 years and ranges from clinician, management, researcher, analyst and planner. For more than 10 years' he has been specifically involved in service planning, activity mapping, planning and reporting. Glenn has well-developed expertise in interpretation of health information, demographics data analysis and report writing. His skills lie in developing and maintaining data sets to capture services delivered, and includes marrying activity and acuity into a useful information to inform decision making. He is adept at collating data from existing sources, and creating purpose built solutions to provide for evidence based decision making. The ultimate outcome is cost effective, efficient and safe healthcare. Glenn was on the statewide working party for Nurse Patient Ratio project, and sits on a number of statewide groups and forums. His various analyst positions utilise his extensive clinical nursing background and informatics knowledge to improve patient centred outcomes and develop evidence informed practice by presenting technology based solutions.

Gunther De Graeve - Managing Director

Job Titles:
  • Managing Director
  • Health Strategist and Industry Leader
Gunther is a renowned health strategist and industry leader with a proven ability to understand underlying issues and resolve complex problems to create a project environment which will deliver innovative solutions for client requirements within identified constraints. Gunther De Graeve is an international health strategist with a reputation for delivering quality solutions for the complex issues facing health service providers. He is recognised as a thought-leader within the industry for his innovation in operational models and infrastructure solutions, his sustainable approach to planning and for his attention to detail; promoting and enabling flexibility and future trends. Gunther is Managing Director of Destravis, the specialist consulting firm he founded to bring expert advice to clients in the health, higher education and research industries. Destravis brings a cross fertilisation of expert skills through a diverse in-house capability including service planning, health planning, master planning, cost management, business cases, economic assessments and operational optimisation. Gunther is a proactive member of the health facility community, participating and speaking at international conferences and study tours. He is the Chief Executive of the International Academy for Design and Health (Sweeden). He values the translation of research and frequently engages in research studies which realise system improvements.

James Stephenson

Job Titles:
  • Senior Architect
James is a Senior Architect with over three decades experience in his profession. He undertakes project roles including Project Architect or Project Team Leader roles of building projects specifically in the aged care, and health care sector. James' areas of expertise include: Leading briefing and consultant teams Developing and directing productive project teams Coordinating and managing design of complex buildings Troubleshooting problem areas and developing effective solutions, including advising on council legislation and policy, Negotiation and mediation between stakeholders, clients and contractors, Investigative assignments and expert reporting in relation to insurance claims, 3D CAD sketch modelling for developing design concepts, Specification writing and scheduling, documentation review, Heritage and character building projects

Jeff Soutar

Job Titles:
  • Senior Health Architect
Jeff has more than 35 years', experience designing and delivering hospitals and health facilities nationally and internationally. Jeff has a diverse health portfolio encompassing projects throughout Australia and internationally. It offers an International perspective through his vast design experiences in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Asia, where he has brought strategic vision to a wide variety of healthcare planning and design projects. Clients have benefited from his consistent involvement in the total design process, with a hands-on-approach to consultation, planning and design. Jeff embraces the challenges and complexities of each design, developing innovative, quality solutions that meet the client's vision, always re-thinking to imagine space, environments and function. Jeff works collaboratively with health clients to translate their specific requirements and desired clinical outcomes into buildings that support their health service plan, and within environments supportive of the healing process. He has managed large-scale and complex buildings with multiple phases, involving the management of multi-disciplinary design teams often located across different continents.

Jodi Hallas

Job Titles:
  • Health Service Planning Director
Jodi is an effective, results-driven leader with a diverse career portfolio spanning the disability, mental health, community and acute health service areas in Queensland and Victoria. As an expert health service planner she has a proven ability to design, analyse data, plan, monitor, consult, evaluate and manage complex programs and projects that support best practice, clinical quality and patient safety. She prides herself on developing health service plans that are implementable and deliver strategic and operational outcomes. Jodi brings valuable strengths to her clients through: An industry reputation in design, development and monitoring of innovative and implementable population, facility and clinical services plans and frameworks including influencing infrastructure and workforce plans, Collaborative approach to driving improvement, innovation and safety, with a proven track record leading significant change through people across the system, Highly effective people management, communication, consultation, negotiation, advocacy and facilitation skills with experience at building culture and rapport, Influencing large scale service improvement and clinical change projects through the development of frameworks, tools and systems incorporating minimum standards, clinical governance, clinical policies, and mitigating risk management strategies.

John McGuire

Job Titles:
  • Director of Strategy, Sustainability and Innovation
John is known for his capabilities in strategy, leading transformation and embedding innovation as a differentiator in the health sector. John is a highly experienced senior executive who has spent the past decade in C-Suite and Executive roles of some of Australia's largest professional services firms. An engineer by qualification, John has over 30 years of experience in leading teams to deliver outstanding results in the health sector. He is known for his capabilities in strategy, leading transformation and embedding innovation as a differentiator in health and other sectors. He has a passion for helping clients navigate the complexities of transformation and operational optimisation in a way that brings people on the journey and takes a lasting design-led approach to sustainable operations and sustainable healthcare.

John Williams

Job Titles:
  • Design Director
John is a highly experienced and respected leader in the design and delivery of complex health and research projects. He has been the project director for many of Australia's Public Private Partnerships hospital projects and has achieved award winning and highly functional and sustainable design solutions. John's approach to design is collaborative and inclusive to gain a holistic understanding and consideration of the complex health and research requirements for the client. He has an in-depth understanding of health facilities and the master planning and architectural and health planning requirements including project co-ordination and team management. John successfully led a large architectural practice in Melbourne, Victoria and is now part of the Destravis team to provide expert knowledge and design services to deliver high performing, health facility design outcomes.

Karyn Hathaway

Job Titles:
  • Senior Health Planner, NZ
Karyn is a senior clinician who brings leadership, management and operational knowledge to strategic planning and service design. As a clinician Karyn has spent over twenty-five years in a wide range of leadership roles including management of a busy tertiary ICU and over 180 staff. She has recent experience in planning hospital facilities and service redesign to support major site reconfiguration and redevelopment, including involvement in steering groups, advisory and working groups at service, organisational and national level. Karyn has proven success in developing service delivery models that meet the needs of patients and services within a large and diverse organisation. Improving patient flow, making use of capacity and ensuring organisational requirements are met. Karyn has a genuine commitment to facilitate and advocate for equitable healthcare for patients, whānau/family and communities.

Kay Toshach

Job Titles:
  • Director of Health Infrastructure
Kay has experience leading a range of broad change initiatives including workforce and performance models, critical service partnerships, planning frameworks, governance models and innovative infrastructure planning projects for the public health sector. Kay has over 30 years of experience in public healthcare. She has been responsible for leading a range of broad change initiatives including workforce and performance models, critical service partnerships, planning frameworks, corporate governance models and innovative infrastructure planning projects. For the past decade, Kay has focused on strategic health service planning and the delivery of major capital projects for Metro South Health Service; one of the largest in Queensland. As past Board Secretary and Health Service Executive, Kay has strategic capability to identify and align health service need, investment planning and capital requirements in organisation and project planning. Her extensive career underpins her ability to bring value to clients in a range of areas from strategic advisory to operational-level implementation.

Kirsten Wech

Job Titles:
  • Senior Data Analyst
  • Data, Policy and Intelligence Analyst
Kirsten is an experienced data, policy and intelligence analyst with extensive skills in analysing raw and open source data to identify trends, opportunities, insights and risks. Kirsten has over two decades of experience in analysis and policy roles within the New Zealand health and government sectors She produces insights for management and clinical leads on key health topics to support health planning activity and analyses large data sets to identify factors driving health demand, long term trends and opportunities for service improvement. Advanced skills in specialist tools of the trade provide Kirsten with a capability to develop dashboards and reports that highlight emerging trends and provide pertinent insights to clients She is also adept at developing excellent relationships with stakeholders and, through those relationships, gaining an in depth understanding of stakeholder needs Anthony is a qualified town planner with executive management experience in the development industry.

Megan Whyte

Job Titles:
  • Senior Cost Planner
Megan has 17 years experience in Quantity Surveying predominantly government projects, and has been working alongside the Destravis team... Megan has 17 years experience in Quantity Surveying. Megan has an understanding of the complexities involved with creating a project that must satisfy a tight budget, but still, deliver functionality with affordability. Her extensive experience in various procurement methods provides our team with cost control methods regardless of the contract chosen including GMP, Two Stage MC, D&C and Traditional. Megan's key attributes include: Advanced identification, measurement and costing experience including managing contractor contracts, Proven ability to cost manage projects within 2% of the project budget with repeated success, Understanding of the work processes and methodologies required on site to complete works in a ‘live' and restricted environment, Ability to cost in detail the FF&E and AV components, Leader in cost management methodologies allowing project challenges to be methodically assessed without impacting programme.

Michael Molloy

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director
  • Senior Designer
  • Lead Designer
Michael Molloy is a lead designer with decades of relevant industry experience. Michael is a former Senior Lecturer in Design at QUT where he lectured for over 20 years. The combination of academic and practical applications of his expertise ensures he keeps abreast of current design trends, technologies and products. His extensive experience is most valuable when applied to critical points of decision making such as project definition and briefing, early concept creation, or design reviews. While his ideas are innovative and move boundaries, he keeps the clients vision as his central focus. His inspiration is a reflection on the clients objectives and budget. Michael has professional and academic experience in North America, UK, South East Asia and Australia and has spread his ideas across many industry sectors. He is proficient in all aspects of the project, which makes him an excellent strategic player in origination, delivery and peer review.

Phil Plant

Job Titles:
  • Lead Strategic Cost Advisor
  • Lead Strategic Cost Planner
Phil is a highly regarded QS in Australia with two decades of specialisation in the health sector. He brings unrivalled knowledge, experience and benchmarking ability to clients with complext capital works projects. Phil joined the Destravis team in 2015 having spent over 20 years as a Brisbane based Director of a renowned global quantity surveying company (Davis Langdon). He brings unrivalled knowledge, experience and benchmarking ability to clients with complex capital works projects. Phil's expertise embraces the full spectrum of cost management services across the property and construction industries. This includes strategic cost advice for project masterplans and feasibilities, detailed cost planning, cost reviewing/auditing, technical advisory services and procurement strategy advice as well as value and risk management services on a diverse range of projects. In particular, Phil has gained significant experience in the health care sector during his time in Brisbane where he has worked on many complex facilities for public, private and not-for-profit sector clients across the country. He has developed an exceptional understanding of the procedures and requirements for health projects and has accumulated extensive cost and area benchmark data on many types of facilities. Many of the health projects Phil has worked on have included complex refurbishment components involving extensive staging requirements and he is thus very knowledgeable about the cost premiums associated with these types of projects.

Renae Whiteside

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Experience Senior Manager
Renae is a highly experience senior manager exclusively for professional design and services firms with a specialisation in social infrastructure. She has a strong ability to leverage past knowledge and experience for the benefit of new projects. Renae has a degree in Business Management and a decade of experience writing strategic reports for the planning and design of health facilities. She has delivered countless project reports which convey complex and highly technical content in a structured, comprehensive and concise format. Her strength lies in her strategic insight into business and strategic planning and the impact that has on structuring communication towards a targeted audience ranging from, ministerial reports, board approval to steering committee reports of project design reports. She has a strong business acumen and ability to guide the implementation of business strategy. Renae brings a personable approach to client relationships, maintaining that client satisfaction is the ultimate measure of success.

Sandra Surkamp

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Facility Planner and Architect
Sandra is a highly experienced health facility planner and designer. She undertands the project process and has a great ability to guide users through a capital project, to assertain their requirements and deliver quality outcomes. Sandra is a highly experienced facility planner and architect specialising in high technology buildings including healthcare facilities, research centres, laboratories and educational facilities. With great communication ability and close client interaction, Sandra ensures that her project planning and design achieves high efficiency and high quality finish within client's budget and performance expectations. Sandra's maturity and leadership are evident in her commitment to project establishment, management and development, ultimately achieving the best possible solution for clients. She is able to rapidly define the client's requirements and needs and translate it into facilities that reflect a clear logic, relevant connections and layout flexibility.

Sue Priebe

Job Titles:
  • Senior Health Planner
Sue Priebe has over 30 years of clinical and managerial experience in the health sector. The past 10 years have focussed on clinical planning and hospital redevelopment projects Previously a practising clinician, Sue has spent the past 10 years focussing on clinical planning for hospital redevelopments including client-side roles for the Sunshine Coast University Hospital PPP project in Queensland. Sue is an experienced health infrastructure and services Commissioning Manager with demonstrated capabilities in the design, building and service commissioning of hospital and health care facilities. Her knowledge of the health care industry, from government policy to direct patient care, comes from extensive clinical experience in critical care nursing and organ donor coordination. She has developed an expertise in managing diverse stakeholders to collaboratively develop fit-for-purpose healthcare solutions that meet both clinical and patient needs.

Tony Giammichele

Job Titles:
  • Senior Health Architect
Tony is a Health Planner and Architect with a steadfast commitment to health and health-related architecture.... Tony has been responsible for the briefing, planning and design of a number of major hospitals and health related projects. He has a unique perspective to healthcare architecture having completed a 3-year nursing course at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane after completing his Diploma in Architecture. This provided him with good insights, understanding and working relationships with hospital staff and users. Tony has a compassionate and caring nature and a dedication to this very special aspect of architecture. Tony is experienced in leading stakeholder engagement to develop a well defined project brief and concepts for functional, well-designed health spaces. He has a very broad skill base across all aspects of architecture, and strong technical and inter-personal skills.