Icon Group Co-Founder and Digital Advisor to the Icon Group Board, Cathie Reid has been honoured with a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her significant service to healthcare delivery and philanthropy. In recognition of this honour, we look back at her career highlights and extensive contribution to philanthropy.
For over 33 years, Cathie has been forging the way forward in healthcare. Starting her career in community pharmacy in country Victoria, Cathie had a limitless vision to provide quality healthcare in Australia and beyond. It is this vision that saw her establish ActiveCare Pharmacies alongside Stuart Giles, her business partner and husband. It is also this vision that saw her become part of the wider APHS Pharmacy Group (now Epic Pharmacy), where she and Stuart leveraged the company’s strong reputation and knowledge in hospital pharmacy to develop the cancer care continuum Icon Group is known for today. Under Cathie and Stuart’s vision, Icon has brought together medical oncology, haematology, radiation oncology, chemotherapy compounding and pharmacy to provide a truly comprehensive offering for cancer patients in Australia. Beyond this they, alongside each member of Icon Group have extended this vision where it is most needed – Asia – where cancer cases are set to rise by 70% in the next two decades.
Alongside her dedication to the continual improvement of healthcare at home and abroad, Cathie has continued to give back to the community. Cathie and Stuart founded Epic Good Foundation which supports greater health outcomes for all Australians with a goal of seeing a balance in gender equality and assisting in closing the Gap in Indigenous health. Epic Good supports a diverse range of organisations that are important to Cathie and Stuart. For Cathie, philanthropy has always been in her blood.
“Stuart and I both grew up in families where the importance of giving back and making a positive contribution to the community, was really paramount. So, we’ve always had that mindset that it’s an important part of what you do. Particularly as we’ve been fortunate enough to be successful in business that obligation increases and it’s something that we’ve always been very committed to making a positive difference in whatever way we possibly can,” Cathie said.
“We bring the same approach to philanthropy as we do to business. It’s easy to write a cheque, anybody can do that it’s about finding what you are passionate about, what you want to get out of bed for in the morning and where you want to make a difference. And our approach to philanthropy is the same – it has to be something that touches your heart.”