GLOBAL MEDTECH COMPANY BRINGS DEVICE REPROCESSING PLANT TO AUSTRALIA Cardinal Health announces regional facility to support processing of hospital collected devices
With
Jane Crowe, Managing Director
Cardinal Health Australia and New Zealand &
Vice-Chair Medical Technology Association of Australia (MTAA)
Sabrina Lichtnegger, Lead Author
ECOFIDES Consulting GmbH, Vienna, Austria
Adam Walczak, Director of Innovation,
Hunter New England Local Health District
Ivan Waterfield, CEO
HunterNet
Australian Health Journal segment
Filmed in Sydney, Newcastle (NSW) and online | July 2024 to March 2025
It is estimated that healthcare contributes 1%–5% of the total global environmental footprint (source: The environmental footprint of health care: a global assessment, Lenzen, Manfred et al. The Lancet Planetary Health, Volume 4, Issue 7, e271 – e279)
And that Australia’s health system contributes 5.3% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions via direct and indirect sources. Indirect sources include emissions generated in the manufacture of medical equipment and those generated from the incineration of waste. (Source: National Health and Climate Strategy, Commonwealth Government of Australia, Department of Health and Aged Care, 3 December 2023. ISBN: 978-1-74186-001-6)
Cardinal Health is global medical products manufacturer and leading provider of single-use device reprocessing services in the U.S. In Australia and New Zealand, as one of the largest suppliers of medical devices, announced on 23 May 2024 that it will be opening a single-use medical device reprocessing facility in Australia – its first reprocessing facility outside the United States.
On 18 March 2025 at the Health Innovation Living Lab at the John Hunter Hospital, a further announcement was made, on the chosen single-use medical device remanufacturing facility in Beresfield, Newcastle, set to commence operation late 2025, supported by the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
Australian Health Journal spoke with Jane Crowe, Managing Director Cardinal Health Australia and New Zealand, about Cardinal Health’s reprocessing investment being a key part of Australia’s healthcare ESG efforts. Crowe talks about creating new jobs in Australia, as well as reducing medical waste and reducing landfill. Equally important, it will enhance Australia’s sovereign healthcare capability and boost supply chain resiliency for Cardinal Health’s customers.
Single-use device reprocessing is a well-established industry in the U.S., with growing global adoption. Single-use medical product reprocessing has the potential to extend the life of medical devices, and significantly reduce waste. This will enable health systems in Australia and New Zealand lower waste management costs while also supporting their sustainability goals.
In 2024, a peer-reviewed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study* conducted by a third-party engaged by Cardinal Health showed the overall environmental footprint of a reprocessed device was on average to be 43% lower than that of a single-use device. The assessment also showed that reprocessed compression sleeves had a 40% lower carbon footprint than single-use sleeves and reduced hospital compression sleeve waste disposal costs by 90%.
The facility will utilise a TGA-approved cleaning and disinfection process to remove soil, contamination and bio-burden from single-use medical devices. They then undergo functionality and quality testing, before being returned to hospitals for reuse, rather than contributing to landfill.
As noted by Invest Regional NSW, remanufacturing offers a significant opportunity to strengthen Australia’s health technology manufacturing capabilities. A well-established industry in the U.S., it has shown to substantially reduce the environmental impact of hospitals and medical device usage.
Source: Adapted from Cardinal Health supplied copy and March 2025 Invest Regional NSW Newsletter
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Bionic eye trial shows improvements in functional vision for retinitis pigmentosa
Results of the first clinical trial of Australia’s ‘second generation’ bionic eye have demonstrated ‘substantial improvement’ in four participants’ functional vision, daily activities and quality of life over a period of more than two and a half years.
Led by the Centre for Eye Research Australia, Bionics Institute, University of Melbourne and Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, the trial findings add to interim results which showed that the second-generation bionic eye developed by Australian company Bionic Vision Technologies provided rapid improvements for four patients with blindness caused the genetic eye condition retinitis pigmentosa.
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Physiotherapist, exercise physiologist support for management of osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is commonly managed medically and typically with treatment. Exercise is also essential in the management of osteoporosis but tends to be under-utilised due to lack of knowledge and unfounded concerns about the risk of injury. In fact, optimal care of people with low bone mass, osteoporosis and/or increased risk of falling can and should include targeted exercise to help prevent osteoporotic fracture.
In early 2024, Healthy Bones Australia released a summary of the principles of osteogenic loading and fall prevention, the translation of those principles into clinical practice, evidence-based recommendations for exercise prescription, and special considerations, along with links to several relevant resources for people with or at risk of osteoporosis, falls and fractures.
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Role of the Chief Nursing Officer
Professor Alison McMillan PSM spoke with Australian Health Journal about the role of Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer at the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.
Alison was appointed as our Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer in November 2019.
In June 2021 Alison was awarded a Public Service Medal for outstanding public service to driving the Government’s national health response priorities during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly to infection prevention measures.
