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Michael Marthick | Valion Health
What's your 30-second elevator speech?
Did you know that less than 1% of people with cancer take part in a rehabilitation program? And where you live impacts your chance of survival and access to support services.
Valion Health is a virtual care provider. We transform lives with individualised, multidisciplinary (team) support and recovery programs. Our mission is to provide access to great quality healthcare, no matter where someone may live.
Who inspires you the most to be the best you can be as a person?
The support of my little family. The give me those little (and big) moments in the day to keep things moving ahead, and the understanding that my ‘best’ can vary from day to day – and that’s ok.
Can you tell us a little bit about your business, and the areas you specialise in?
I started working on the business in late 2016, with My background is in allied health, as an Exercise Physiologist, and working in a large cancer hospital I continued to hear stories of patients who didn’t have access to appropriate support services. Some patients travelled hundreds of kilometres to see a psychologist.
Valion Health focuses on providing individualised cancer support and mental health recovery programs for people across Australia. These programs usually go between 8 and 16 weeks. We work with insurers and other funders (our B2B customers) to offer services to their members.
I have a staff of 11 amazing nurses, operations and admin team members, and this is supported by a team of 25 psychologists, dietitians, exercise physiologists, physiotherapists health coaches and yoga therapists. We all work from home/ shared spaces (even pre-COVID), and flexible and meaningful work are key to me as an employer.
Can you tell me about one of your client success stories?
We had a 74 year old man with a type of lung cancer referred to us – he lives 200ks from Darwin, so pretty remote. When he started a remote support program he could barely walk 50m, was losing weight pretty quickly and was driving his wife bananas! After 4 months in our cancer support program, he had more energy, could walk a few hundred metres, get up and down off the floor (a big deal), and was gaining wait. His wife called and mentioned she was in QLD visiting some friends, the first time since his diagnosis that she had the confidence to leave him at home.
What’s your favourite thing about working at Motive Coworking?
It’s my second week in… but it’s so relaxed, and everyone has been super friendly. I also always end up here on Fridays – the BBQ is a winner!
What does life look like outside your business profile? What do you like doing for fun?
I’ve got a young family, with a 2 year old and a 6 month old. So.. If you had asked me that question 3 years ago the answer would have been pretty different! But I love spending time outdoors - getting out of the city, and into the water. If I had an evening free – a few beers and some live music.
Is there anything you would like to share? Or anything you’d like to offer help with?
A friendly ear. Happy to chat about getting started, business models, strategic planning.
Bonus Question: If you were a sandwich, what sort of sandwich would you be and why?
A ruben! Somehow it just works..