Name:
Health Purchasing Victoria (HPV).

Where is your place of business?
Level 34, Casselden, 2 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne.

Tell us about your business:
Health Purchasing Victoria (HPV) is a state-wide health procurement organisation that partners with Victoria’s public health services to procure best-value goods and services. Our vision is to advance safe, affordable and sustainable healthcare.

Why did you choose to be a part of GROW Gippsland?
Opening up more opportunities for local business gives hospitals greater flexibility in choosing local services which are geographically close, potentially producing better results for patients. This is a key plank of HPV’s procurement strategy to increase best-value healthcare outcomes, and aligns with the Victorian Government’s objective to maintain and strengthen opportunities in the state’s regions.

What are you doing to support local business?
In the past two years HPV has introduced a ‘cluster sourcing’ procurement approach as part of our broader strategy, grouping health services in regional areas, and enabling small-to-medium businesses to take part in more localised tenders. One example is HPV’s regionally-based tender for the design, supply and installation of solar rooftop arrays on Gippsland hospitals. This approach collectively delivers a best-value outcome, taking into account financial, environmental and regional benefits. We have been pleased with the interest shown by local business Gippsland Solar and the regional subcontractors employed by Energis on this project, which has produced a great result for the region.

Why do you think its important to employ locally?
HPV’s involvement at a regional level provides local businesses opportunities to participate in Invitations to Supply (ITS) that better serve the needs of local hospitals, while also expanding opportunities for companies to win business beyond their local area. The implementation of the Victorian Government’s Social Procurement Framework is providing more opportunities for small-to-medium enterprises to employ locally and continue to contribute to the well-being of their communities.

Tell us about a time that you were proud to be a part of your business/organisation:
In 2018 HPV was involved in coordinating a supplier-focused forum in Gippsland to outline the health procurement process for businesses which may not have previously considered supplying hospitals, and foster regional growth. HPV co-hosted the forum with Latrobe Regional Hospital, the Industry Capability Network (ICN) and Gippsland GROW and it was well-supported by Gippsland health services. The forum gave participants a high-level overview on how to engage in an HPV or health service tender and clarified the tendering process to encourage more local businesses to get involved in health sector contracts. We were really happy with the number of local businesses who attended and registered on our website and/or made contact with local health services with a view to participating in future tenders.