New spin on old-style health care practice

LOCAL corporate health group Desana is launching its first health centre in Wembley this week to tap into the burgeoning market for complementary therapies.

Desana is one of two corporate health groups to have emerged in the local market this year offering consumers a combination of traditional and complementary treatments.

Desana will compete with Val Allen & Partners Perth Natural Medical Clinic, which has operated in Perth for 20 years.

Investment banker Peter Gibbons bought into Val Allen & Partners earlier this year and is driving the development of a total corporate health care program.

Mr Gibbons said Desana would be operating within a similar market to Van Allen, however competition wasn’t necessarily a negative thing.

“I guess it (Desana) is in a similar market … but we’ve been around for 20 years and I think one or two competitors isn’t such a bad thing, especially if it raises awareness,” Mr Gibbons said.

“We’re putting together a pretty exciting deal with two parties.

“One of the parties is a publicly listed health company and the other one is a high net-worth individual.”

He said there weren’t currently any groups offering a comprehensive corporate health care package.

“It will be a completely comprehensive corporate health care business,” Mr Gibbons said. “It won’t be just diagnostic, we will be able to put in an entire program including corporate retreats.”

Val Allen & Partners are currently in negotiations and Mr Gibbons said the group hoped to have the project up and running within six months.

Desana is marketing its business along the philosophy of ‘natural health for body, mind and soul’.

The centre will provide a combination of traditional medical practitioners and complementary therapists, including herbal and natural remedies.

Desana was co-founded by Julie Gibson and Lee Pagana as a result of their shared frustrations at the state of the health care system.

Research undertaken by Desana suggests that up to 76 per cent of Perth’s adult population has used natural or alternative therapies and medicines.