Safer Sleep LLC, together with its wholly owned Safer Sleep Ltd subsidiary, (the “Company” or “Safer Sleep”) has provided peri-operative safety solutions to the healthcare industry in New Zealand since 1999.
Eighty four (84) SAFERsleep® System-equipped operating rooms (“ORs”) are in service. Safer Sleep’s products have been proven in the field; over 250,000 anaesthetics to date have been managed using the SAFERsleep® System solution.
In 2008 the Company installed six systems into two sites in the United Kingdom. The sites, Papworth and Wrexham Hospitals are participating in a national trial into anaesthesia drug safety practices.
United Kingdom | Research Driven | Management & Board Profiles | Medical Advisory Board
In 2008 the company installed two sites in the United Kingdom as part of study into methods to reduce anaesthetic drug error. The study is sponsored by the National Patient Safety Foundation and the Royal College of Anaesthetists and will be completed early 2009. Six (6) operating rooms have been installed, five at Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, England and one at Wrexham Hospital, North Wales.
While extensively field-tested, Safer Sleep’s products are based on academic research. The company’s founder and product visionary, Professor Alan Merry, MD, has led a series of ongoing studies that demonstrate the efficacy of SAFERsleep® System principles. A recognised pioneer in peri-operative safety research, Dr. Merry lectures internationally and recently co-authored Errors, Medicine and the Law (2001, Cambridge University Press). Dr. Merry’s research team was recently recognised in Anaesthesia, a leading academic journal for anaesthesiologists, as “world leaders in the analysis of medication errors and in devising methods to try and decrease their occurrence.”
Sue Wright, Chief Executive Officer & Board of Directors
Sue Wright has served as the company’s CEO and Director since August 2007. Ms Wright joined Safer Sleep Ltd in 2002 as General Manager and subsequently served as the organisation’s CEO prior to its merger with Safer Sleep LLC.
Ms. Wright began her healthcare career with Sandoz Pharma Ltd in 1978 and established a sales training company for the pharmaceutical industry in New Zealand in 1981. Rejoining the pharmaceutical industry in 1989, Ms. Wright held a number of management roles up to the level of Country Manager while completing an MBA.
In 1992, Ms. Wright joined Boehringer Mannheim as General Manager of the New Zealand Patient Care Division, marketing pharmaceuticals and diagnostic patient products. At Boehringer, Ms. Wright was a member of the Global Managers Program, a select management acceleration initiative where 22 managers are chosen every second year from a pool of 22,000 employees. Under her leadership, the company revenues tripled in eight years, two new divisions were established and sales expanded into the Pacific region.
In 1998, Ms. Wright became the Chief Executive of the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation, which assesses, recognizes and encourages New Zealand organizations to achieve international standards of management excellence. In addition, Ms. Wright has served as the development facilitator for an innovative primary care health facility in New Zealand and strategic advisor for a large not-for-profit entity.
Ms. Wright received a BSc in physiology and an MBA from the University of Auckland.
Tim Cook, Chairman of the Board of Directors
Tim Cook is Managing Director of Collins Asset Management Ltd (Collins Group), an Auckland based private equity investment company. The Collins Group has a number of investments in technology, property, executive recruitment, medicine, manufacturing and the motor industry. It is a major shareholder in Safer Sleep LLC, holding 12%.
His earlier management career includes senior retail and operational management roles in the supermarket, retail food and fashion industry sectors. Tim also has an in-depth background in director, senior management level recruitment and executive search and appraisal work for a wide cross section of industry sectors.
Tim has been with Collins Group since 2003 where he was initially a business advisor to the Chairman of the Group and subsequently became a Director and CEO of Primecare Retirement Villages , their major investment . He then oversaw the sale of the business in 2005 and Collins Asset Management became a private equity and investment organisation.
Tim is a Director of a number of companies within and outside Collins Group. These include Cook Executive Recruitment, Auckland Heart Group, Cabco Group, Mintshot Ltd , Team McMillan BMW & Mini and Charlies Group, a listed NZ public company, manufacturing and distributing premium beverage products throughout the world.
Dr. Alan Merry, Board of Directors
Dr. Alan Merry founded Safer Sleep Ltd., serves as a consultant to the Company, and is a member of its Board of Directors. Dr. Merry’s responsibilities include clinical leadership and product innovation.
Dr. Merry is Professor and Head of Department of Anaesthesiology at the University of Auckland. He is Chair of the Quality and Safety Committee of World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesia and former President of the Auckland Medico-legal Society. Originally from Zimbabwe, he also trained in Scotland before settling in New Zealand to practice anaesthesia. Dr. Merry is also a practicing cardiac anaesthesiologist.
Dr. Merry is co-author of the books “Errors, Medicine and the Law” (Cambridge University Press, 2001) and “Safety and Ethics in Healthcare: A Guide to Getting It Right” (Ashgate Publ. Co, February 28, 2007) as well as editor of the book “Essential Perioperative Transoesophageal Echocardiography” (Butterworth-Heinemann, 2003). Dr. Merry’s numerous peer-reviewed publications predominantly reflect interests in safety in anaesthesia, medico-legal concepts related to negligence, cardio-thoracic anaesthesia, and the management of postoperative and chronic pain.
Regarding safety in anaesthesia, Dr. Merry and his research group in New Zealand are recognised internationally for their leadership. The group is continuing to research the area of anaesthesia safety and medication error. They have a published extensively on this topic.
A combination of his interest in safety and his experience as a long time practicing anaesthesiologist /anaesthetist led him to establish Safer Sleep Ltd. in 1997. Dr. Merry received a MB ChB from the Godfrey Huggins School of Medicine. He is a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and of the Faculty of Pain Management of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists.
Philip Thoreau, Board of Directors
Philip Thoreau is qualified as a New Zealand and Australian Patent Attorney and serves the varied intellectual property needs of local industry both in New Zealand and overseas. He is team leader in the branding, marketing, engineering, building and construction areas. Mr. Thoreau has over thirty years experience with Baldwins, one of New Zealand's largest and most respected intellectual property firms. He has served for many years as a board partner, deputy chair and chair of the firm and has coupled this with the application of intellectual property law to project and business commercialisation for clients both locally and internationally.
Mr. Thoreau is currently a Chairman of the Tokyo based Asian Patent Attorneys Association and an active member of a number of international intellectual property associations. He has developed, in conjunction with one of New Zealand’s largest companies, policy and compliance frameworks for risk assessment and management in parallel importation and has also headed consultation processes and client submissions at Government level in connection with proposed changes to intellectual property law.
Mr. Thoreau is a regular commentator and presenter on major intellectual property protection issues of importance to business.
Dr. Mike Stabile, Board of Directors
Dr. Mike Stabile is Chief Medical Officer for the company and serves as Chairman of the Company’s Medical Advisory Board, which is responsible for providing clinical and anaesthesia market assessments to Safer Sleep. Dr. Stabile co-founded Safer Sleep LLC.
Dr. Stabile trained in medicine and anaesthesiology at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Hospital in Boston and subsequently spent a year as Chief Resident/ Senior Registrar at Prince Henry Hospital in Sydney, Australia. He is a founding partner of one of the largest anaesthesia practices in the US and currently serves as adjunct Clinical Professor of anaesthesiology, Vanderbilt Medical School. In his career, Dr. Stabile has administered over 25,000 anaesthetics.
Dr. Stabile earned an MBA from Belmont University in Nashville and has been involved with healthcare start-ups Medquant and Nursing Resource Solutions. He is the author of several medical papers, book chapters and newspaper articles on the subjects of anaesthesia and safety.
Dr. Stabile served as a visiting Professor of Anaesthesiology at St. Louis University in 2003. He has worked as a volunteer on over ten international Operation Smile missions, twice serving as team leader. Dr. Stabile is on the Operation Smile Anaesthesia Council and serves as the Nashville Chapter President. He is on the Nashville Academy of Medicine Board of Directors.
Medical Advisory Board
Medical Advisory Board
Dr. Mike Stabile, Chief Medical Officer and Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board
Dr. Mike Stabile is Chief Medical Officer for the company and serves as Chairman of the Company’s Medical Advisory Board, which is responsible for providing clinical and anaesthesia market assessments to Safer Sleep. Dr. Stabile co-founded Safer Sleep LLC.
Dr. Stabile trained in medicine and anaesthesiology at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Hospital in Boston and subsequently spent a year as Chief Resident/ Senior Registrar at Prince Henry Hospital in Sydney, Australia. He is a founding partner of one of the largest anaesthesia practices in the US and currently serves as adjunct Clinical Professor of Anaesthesiology, Vanderbilt Medical School. In his career, Dr. Stabile has administered over 25,000 anaesthetics.
Dr. Stabile earned an MBA from Belmont University in Nashville and has been involved with healthcare start-ups Medquant and Nursing Resource Solutions. He is the author of several medical papers, book chapters and newspaper articles on the subjects of anaesthesia and safety.
Dr. Stabile served as a visiting Professor of Anaesthesiology at St. Louis University in 2003. He has worked as a volunteer on over ten international Operation Smile missions, twice serving as team leader. Dr. Stabile is on the Operation Smile Anaesthesia Council and serves as the Nashville Chapter President. He is on the Nashville Academy of Medicine Board of Directors.
The Company has established an international Medical Advisory Board comprised of anaesthesiology and related healthcare professionals. This body will assist the company in evaluating the clinical impact of product development and marketing decisions. Safer Sleep Medical Advisory Board members are:
• John Eichhorn, MD. Professor, Department of Anaesthesiology, University of Kentucky College of Medicine/ Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky.
• Jayant Deshpande, M.D., M.P.H. Director, Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee; Medical Director, Performance Management and Improvement, Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital; Vice Chair, Clinical Affairs, Department of Pediatrics; Vice Chair, Faculty Affairs, Department of Anaesthesiology.
• James DiNardo, M.D. Associate Professor of Anaesthesia, Harvard Medical School; Senior Associate in Cardiac Anaesthesia, Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
• Alan Merry, M.D. Professor and Head of Department of Anaesthesia, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand; Chair of the Quality and Safety Committee of World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesia..
• Luke Davis, Jr., M.D. Post-doctoral Fellow, Cardiovascular Institute and Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of California – San Francisco.
• Ross Kennedy, M.D. Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Department of Anaesthesia, Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Science.
• Michael Vigoda, MD. Assistant Professor, Department of Anaesthesiology, University of Miami School of Medicine; and Director, Center for Informatics and Perioperative Management, Department of Anaesthesiology, University of Miami School of Medicine.
United Kingdom | Research Driven | Management & Board Profiles | Medical Advisory Board