Ramsay announces new CEO for Elysium

Ramsay Health Care has announced the appointment of Joe O’Connor as CEO of its UK mental health business Elysium Healthcare.

O’Connor (pictured), who will take up the post on 12 January, has more than 20 years of experience in leadership roles across the health, social care and professional services sectors. He was CEO of Four Seasons Healthcare Group and has held senior healthcare advisory positions at EY and AlixPatners.

A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, he has extensive experience in operational transformation, governance and stakeholder engagement across regulated sectors.

He has also served on governance boards and industry bodies across the UK, including the Policy Board for Care England, influencing on key matters across the care sector.

Ramsay Health Care UK CEO Nick Costa has been interim CEO of the business since Joy Chamberlain stepped down in February. The business has faced a series of challenges including low occupancy levels and high staffing costs. EBITDAR was down 31.7% to A$63.2m in constant currency in FY25 despite a 9.2% rise in revenue to A$1,093m.

Earlier, it appointed external advisors to perform a ‘rapid strategic and performance diagnostic’, which it said had resulted in a renewed focus on operational efficiency and optimising the existing portfolio while improving financial processes related to cash and debt.

This included cutting 75 corporate roles and ceasing all capital expenditure related to site expansion.

Commenting on O’Connor’s appointment, Ramsay Health Care CEO Natalie Davis said: ‘Joe is a respected and experienced leader who brings focus on quality of service delivery and people, together with operational and financial excellence. His experience will be invaluable as Elysium continues to deliver high quality care across all services, while adapting to sector-wide shifts and strengthening performance.’

O’Connor said: ‘I’m excited to join Ramsay and Elysium at such an important time. Elysium has an essential role in providing high-quality person-centred care across the UK. I look forward to working with our team to strengthen services, support our people and provide the very best care for our service users.’