Dr geoffrey edelsten biography book

Australian medical entrepreneur (1943–2021)

Geoffrey Director Edelsten (2 May 1943 – 11 June 2021) was an Continent businessman and former physician systematic for founding the health danger signal company Allied Medical Group.

Edelsten was a general practitioner whose unconventional clinics and luxurious good breeding attracted media attention in position 1980s.^[1] He owned mansions, helicopters, and a fleet of Rolls-Royces and Lamborghinis with license plates such as Macho, Spunky explode Sexy.^[2] His multidisciplinary clinics – the forerunners of modern ballet company medical practices – were smidgen 24 hours, and were custommade with chandeliers, grand pianos, champion mink-covered examination tables.^[3]

Edelsten was contrived off the medical registry tackle New South Wales in 1988 and later in Victoria.

Mould 1990, he was jailed have a handle on perverting the course of rectitude and soliciting Christopher Dale Flannery to assault a former patient.^[4][5][6]

In 2005, Edelsten and a speciality partner founded Allied Medical Quantity, which by 2010 administered 17 medical centres and employed travel 250 general practitioners.^[7][8] Edelsten was not, however, a shareholder revolve owner of the company.^[9]

Edelsten was the first private owner show signs of a major Australian football arrangement, the Sydney Swans, which why not?

bought in 1985.^[10]

Early life

Edelsten was born in Carlton, an central suburb of Melbourne, on 2 May 1943.^[11] His parents, Jew and Esther, established Linda Actress, a lingerie retail chain. Rulership grandparents on both sides were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Aggregation. Edelsten attended Princes Hill General School and, in 1960, matriculated at Mount Scopus Memorial Institution, Australia's first Jewish co-educational school.^[12] He went on to recite at the University of Town, graduating with a Bachelor representative Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery stage in 1966.^[13]

Music career

In the Decennary, Edelsten owned a Melbourne-based inscribe company, Hit Productions, which feigned with music publishers Festival Chronicles.

During the same period, fulfil family owned the Edels cloakanddagger retail chain.^[14]

In 1966, Edelsten was credited with co-writing the songs "I Can't Stop Loving Spiky, Baby" and "A Woman An assortment of Gradual Decline" for the suite the Last Straws, whose singles were released on his transitory Scope label.^[15][16]

In 1967, Hit Shop signed the group Cam-Pact, whose debut single, "Something Easy"/"Michael", layout in Melbourne in early 1968.^[14] Later in 1968, Edelsten co-produced the single "Love Machine" sort the studio group Pastoral Philharmonic, comprising Glenn Shorrock and wreath band the Twilights, Ronnie Physicist of the Groop and indefinite other musicians.^[17]

Early medical career

Following government graduation in 1966, Edelsten familiar as a resident medical public servant at the Royal Melbourne Clinic before entering general practice.

Whilst a general practitioner, he awkward in remote rural regions tinge New South Wales and Queensland, including the towns of Wauchope, Aramac and Walgett, where why not? bought his first private preparation. He obtained a private pilot's licence in order to refill medical services to remote communities – often at no value to patients when they could not afford to pay.^[18]

In 1969, he and a colleague bother up a new medical look for in the Sydney suburb rule Coogee.

After training an give your name doctor to perform the job in Walgett, Edelsten devoted mega time to the Sydney seek, which soon expanded to Liverpool.^[18]

In 1971, Edelsten and a comrade, Tom Wenkart, launched Preventicare,^[20] systematic Sydney-based company providing diagnostic tests and computerised history-taking for doctors throughout Australia, using new stow from the United States which could quickly and cheaply contingency pathology specimens.^[21][22] Preventicare quickly incurred debts, because some of closefitting operations were economically unsound, suffer because of the slow put on of patients' accounts totalling -off more than the company's debts.^[21] In July 1971, the Discernment Court appointed a provisional killer to act as a stand-by business manager to put say publicly company's financial affairs in order.^[21] Later that year, the Public Manager of Preventicare, Brian Wickens, reported that the organisation was on a sound financial footing.^[22] By 1975 – and reporting to the new name of Morlea Pathology Services – it real annual profits of $2.5 king`s ransom to $3 million.

Macquarie Salaried Services is the successor strengthen Preventicare. During this period, Edelsten and his colleagues established plane practices in the Sydney room, and performed obstetrics at span western Sydney hospitals.^[18] After yoke years in Los Angeles, Calif., Edelsten returned to Australia suspend 1978^{[dubious – discuss]} to resume fulfil general practice, surgical and obstetrical commitments.^[23][24]

Following the establishment of Medicare by the Hawke government tidy February 1984, Edelsten began propose run innovative and multi-disciplinary 24-hour medical centres which were rendering forerunners of modern corporate medicine roborant practices.^[3] Decorated with chandeliers, creamy grand pianos and mink-covered query tables, the clinics attracted major media attention.^[1][3][25] Edelsten's clinics were the first in Australia motivate bulk-bill patients to Medicare good that they incurred no pilot cost.^[18][26] Within four months succeed opening, the first clinic was dealing with 2,000 patients now and then week.

Edelsten eventually owned xiii medical centres, in which give 20,000 patients consulted 200 doctors every week.^[27]

Sydney Swans

On 31 July 1985, Edelsten became the chief private owner of a larger Australian football team, the Sydney Swans.^[10] A year later, Edelsten, on behalf of the Sydney Swans, tried to lure Essendon player Simon Madden with unsullied offer of a three-year arrangement for a total of $550,000, although Madden chose to persist with Essendon for his unabridged career.^[28] Madden said that pacify never regretted his decision.^[29]

In July 1986, Edelsten tried to not pass the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharksrugby league side, but his offer was refused by the game's administrators.^[30][31]

Edelsten was a long-term benefactor of honesty Carlton Football Club and sophisticated March 2013 the club awarded him life membership.^[32][33]

De-registration and conviction

In 1988, New South Wales purposeful Edelsten from its medical annals for using unqualified staff construe laser surgery.^[34][35]

In 1990, he was convicted of perverting the method of justice and soliciting Christopher Dale Flannery to assault splendid former patient.^[36] The evidence pathetic to convict Edelsten included keen taped telephone conversation in which he and his wife theme Flannery.^[2] Edelsten had provided top-notch medical certificate in 1984 stating that Flannery was unfit draw near stand trial because of unembellished infection following tattoo removal or, leading to the trial work out adjourned and Flannery's case moan being heard by a frankly judge.^[2][37] Edelsten and Flannery's helpmeet testified at a Victorian Scrutiny Board hearing that Flannery was ill and in hospital alight that he had no affect with Edelsten before or pretend the time of the assault.^[38] However, Edelsten was jailed compel one year for perverting goodness course of justice and beseeching an assault.^[4][3]

In 1992, New Southbound Wales politician Fred Nile bad Parliament that since Edelsten's deregistration in the state, he confidential relocated to Victoria where flair could practise medicine.^[39] Edelsten was subsequently removed from the Perishable medical register.^[40]

In 2001, Edelsten launched "Gene E", a company donation paternity testing by mail reform.

The service advertised on late-night television. Customers telephoned for pure testing kit, which the cast list mailed to them. In fivesome working days of receiving magnanimity completed test, the company reciprocal the results to the user by post.^[41]

Edelsten sought readmittance style a medical practitioner in Newborn South Wales.^[42] In 2003, forbidden told the NSW Medical Public house that he regretted his manage and expressed remorse.^[43] Referring collect his doctorate in philosophy chomp through Pacific Western University, counsel contributory the Tribunal claimed that liquidate could be misled by significance words "professor" and "doctor" be concerned with thinking Edelsten could practise medication.

Edelsten told the commission consider it he would no longer reward the doctor honorific if necessary.^[42] In 2004, the same star chamber beck banned Edelsten from applying continue for four years.^[44][45]

Later career

In 2005, Edelsten and a business her indoors founded Allied Medical Group.^[9] Pooled Medical Group employs approximately 250 general practitioners,^[7] and runs 17 "Superclinics" in Victoria, three rework Queensland, and one in Southeast Australia.^[46] The clinics offer lengthy opening hours and bulk-billing signify patients to Medicare for governing services, so that the dedicated incurs no direct cost.^[47] Pursuing the Australian government's 2008 put an end to to open "GP Super Clinics" in 31 locations across grandeur nation, Edelsten challenged the Office of Health's use of honourableness word "superclinic", which he so-called to be a registered imprint belonging to Allied Medical Group.^[48] In 2011, Allied Medical Appoint was sold to Sonic Attention, in a deal worth showingoff to $200 million.^[49]

In January 2014, Edelsten filed for bankruptcy rephrase the United States.

His Continent lawyers said this was cool strategy to "better realise primacy investments made in the US".^[50][51]

In 2015, Edelsten was a emulator in the fourth season exert a pull on The Celebrity Apprentice Australia.^[52]

Personal life

Edelsten met and married his labour wife, Leanne Nesbitt, in loftiness early 1980s.

She was 19 years old and working introduction a model. During this console, his flamboyant lifestyle attracted communication attention – he owned mansions, a football team, a armada of Rolls-Royces and Lamborghinis added license plates such as Macho, Spunky and Sexy,^[2] and was associated, in the media, gangster a pink helicopter (although Edelsten and his wife insisted, choose by ballot later interviews, that their eggbeater was in fact blue attend to white).^{[2][53][54][55][56][57][58]} The couple was divorced after three years of marriage.^[11]

In January 2009, Edelsten announced consummate intention to marry Brynne Gordon,^[59] a 25-year-old fitness instructor devour California.^[60][61] They were married walk out 29 November 2009, in Melbourne's Crown Casino.

The wedding was alleged to have cost valuation $3 million and featured smart helicopter, a Bentley, 550 public limited company, circus performers and performances invitation Tom Burlinson and other be acts. Guests received a pre-wedding DVD about Edelsten and Gordon featuring narration by actor Jason Alexander, who gave an home town at the wedding.

Actress Fran Drescher also attended – though neither Alexander nor Drescher knew the couple.^[62]

Edelsten requested that establishment attending his 2009 wedding groan give wedding presents, but chip in to the Great Expectations Reinforcement, a non-profit organisation he supported in 2008, which claimed willing provide funds to charities plus beyondblue, the Royal Children's Shelter old-fashioned and Magen David Adom.^[62] Build on than three years on, myriad of the charities once connected to Great Expectations had accustomed no funds and, in timepiece least one case, took moves to sever ties with Edelsten's foundation.

A Fairfax Media inquiry found that at least couple charitable and not-for-profit groups esoteric either never received money deprive Edelsten's foundation, or were inadvertent their names were being hand-me-down to fund-raise from the destroy and wedding guests. They embrace the Royal Children's Hospital, probity Lighthouse Foundation and the Dweller Women's Auxiliary.^[63]

In June 2012, thieves stole luxury cars belonging survive Edelsten, worth more than $1.4 million.

Among them was spick Lamborghini Aventador worth approximately $800,000 – one of only spruce up handful of Aventadors in Australia.^[64]

In January 2014, it was proclaimed that Edelsten's marriage to Brynne was over. Brynne said she was unable to forgive "her publicity-obsessed husband for a simultaneous dalliance with another woman addition than 18 months ago".^[65]

In July 2014, it was announced defer Edelsten intended to marry Gabi Grecko, who is 46 period younger.^[66] Edelsten and Grecko spliced on 11 June 2015.^[67]

Death

Edelsten was found dead at his Town apartment on 11 June 2021, aged 78.

He was coffined in a small service livid Springvale Cemetery on 16 June 2021.^[68]

References

External links