SummitCare - Achieving Gold

SummitCare is a long standing member of the QPS community, having joined QPS in 2001 and has been providing quality residential aged care within the Sydney metropolitan area for more than 46 years. In that time SummitCare has built a reputation, for providing high quality aged care, in a warm and caring environment.

The SummitCare organisation has set a benchmark for the aged care sector, by winning the Australian Business Excellence Gold Award 2012, becoming the first Australian aged care provider and one of the first aged care providers in the world to achieve this level of recognition, which follows the achievement of the silver award received in 2009.


The Australian Business Excellence Awards are delivered to organisations that successfully apply the Australian Business Excellence Framework (ABEF). An integrated leadership and management system, the ABEF describes elements essential to organisations sustaining high levels of performance and is the only model of its kind in Australia to be recognised by the Global Excellence Models (GEM) Council. SummitCare has been utilising the Australian Business Excellence Framework since 2007 and more recently the updated 2011 model.

The Gold Award was presented to SummitCare owner Peter Wohl and CEO Cynthia Payne by David Sikorski, Practice Leader - Capability Development Services of SAI Global, which is the custodian of the ABEF. The function on June 27, 2013, at Crowne Plaza Norwest was attended by more than a 100 people comprising senior industry representatives, suppliers and staff.

Chief Executive Officer, Cynthia Payne told attendees "This effort culminated in an achievement as the only aged care company in Australia to reach gold level and to gain this level it meant achieving a scoring matrix higher than 650 out of a possible 1000, Our result was a magnificent 681. Through using the framework from 2007 and more recently the updated 2011 model, we strengthened every part of the organisation." She went on to acknowledge the efforts and contribution of the organisation's leadership team, all staff and suppliers, in the achievement of the Gold Award.


Speaking of his experiences working within the business, SummitCare owner Peter Wohl paid special tribute to his father, Emerich Wohl, who created the Wohl Management Group in the 1960s, which has evolved into the SummitCare of present day. He stated at the presentation "For me the gold standard is defined by the fact that I know that each and every one of you continues the SummitCare tradition of caring for the people in our care, in the same way that my father before me and now myself cares for those entrusted to us," and in commending Payne, the senior leadership team and everyone who had worked or partnered with SummitCare he added "I know that without you all the success we enjoy today would not have been a reality."

Presenting the Gold Award, David Sikorski of SAI Global, said winning the Award required an organisation to undergo a rigorous assessment process, beginning with self-assessment through an initial submission, which was then analysed by an independent team. This was followed by site visits and further organisational analysis before awards were allocated.

Sikorski commended SummitCare, particularly on an organisational culture that helped achieve the Gold Award. "One of the key strengths that was written by the evaluation team about SummitCare was that they found a very high level of relationships from the board through to the staff, including stakeholders, which was a strong values-based culture. I couldn't get over that statement - I've never seen it before. Congratulations."


Global Excellence Models (GEM) Council representative Ravi Fernando spoke at the Gold Award presentation. Fernando said SummitCare was one of the few aged care organisations that had won such recognition at an international level. The ABEF is part of a global community of 80 excellence awards programs, including the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence in the US, the EFQM Excellence Model in Europe and the Singapore Quality Award. "So the recognition you are getting today is recognised around the world," he said. Fernando stressed that winning a Gold Award required a focused approach. "It's leadership to start with - leadership and passion," he said. "But it's also very much about leadership empowering staff - that's the only way anyone can win the Gold Award."

"The leadership, the staff at SummitCare, everyone should be tremendously proud of what you have achieved."