Pacific Smiles Group Awarded For Business Excellence

In the Media

August 1, 2013

Australia’s most prestigious regional business awards, the Hunter Business Awards, were held recently in Newcastle. From hundreds of entries, there were 60 finalists across 9 award categories and almost every sector of the economy was represented by the region’s leading businesses and organisations. Over 500 people attended a gala black-tie awards ceremony to hear the winners being announced.

Pacific Smiles Group won the award for Business Excellence for companies of greater than 20 employees. This was no small achievement against a strong field of finalists. The Award, sponsored by the Hunter Business Chamber and the NSW Minerals Council, recognised the commitment of the dentists, staff and management of Pacific Smiles Group, to the delivery of excellence in patient care and customer service. In accepting the Award, John Gibbs, the CEO and Managing Director of Pacific Smiles Group, said that business and service excellence were top of mind and close to heart for the employees and dentists associated with the group. “Winning this Award vindicates the commitment and hard work of so many people across our Pacific Smiles Dental Centres and nib Dental Care Centres.”

The Award for Business Excellence comes at a time when Pacific Smiles Group is celebrating its 10th anniversary. From three Dental Centres in the Hunter region of New South Wales, there are now thirty four centres across Victoria, the ACT, New South Wales and Queensland, providing fully serviced surgeries to over 260 dentists. The growth continues, with typically three to four new Dental Centres being developed every year, and all to the same successful model and formula that has served the Group so well over the last decade.

Founders Dr. Alex Abrahams and Dr. Alison Hughes are justifiably very proud that patient care and customer service have remained the cornerstones of the Group’s success, despite the impressive growth. “Our culture is about putting the patient’s needs first and foremost in all aspects of our organisation. It was the way we ran our practices prior to the creation of Pacific Smiles and it has been a non-negotiable requirement in every Dental Centre that we have developed or acquired since then.” An internal operating philosophy and training program called APPEx® or A Perfect Patient Experience helps to guide consistent excellence in care.

Beyond the current celebrations, continued improvement and further expansion are firmly on the agenda as Pacific Smiles Group embraces its second decade in the fast changing dental services industry of Australia.

Photo 1: (L-R) Scott Keenan of NSW Minerals Council, Richard Anicich President of Hunter Business Chamber, John Gibbs CEO of Pacific Smiles Group, Kristen Keegan CEO of Hunter Business Chamber. Photo Courtesy of AJM Photography.

Photo 2: (L-R) Dr Alison Hughes and Dr Alex Abrahams, Co-Founders of Pacific Smiles Group.