Cambridge and Papworth hospitals first to sign up with maverick billionairess's computer giant after £10m investment

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Cambridge and Papworth hospitals first to sign up with maverick billionairess's computer giant after £10m investment

July 1st, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

By
Caroline Graham and Polly Dunbar

PUBLISHED:

16:22 EST, 30 June 2012

|

UPDATED:

16:22 EST, 30 June 2012

They hold staff meetings in a treehouse, plastic ducks bob along on a stream running past desks and models of Humpty Dumpty and the Tin Man welcome visitors to the office.

This is the self-proclaimed ‘Intergalactic Headquarters’ of American electronics firm Epic Systems where staff, mostly under 25s, reflect the unconventional image of the company by turning up in T-shirts, shorts and flip flops – with their pets.

At first glance the laid-back company might seem an odd choice to tackle the rather pressing problem of Britain’s botched £11 billion NHS records system.

'Intergalactic Headquarters': The unconventional entrance of American electronics firm Epic, which is about to sign a £10million contract to provide a computer system for leading heart hospital Papworth

‘Intergalactic Headquarters’: The unconventional entrance of American electronics firm Epic, which is about to sign a £10million contract to provide a computer system for leading heart hospital Papworth

Branch office: Epic's unconventional campus in Wisconsin also has a treehouse meeting room (pictured), and an Indiana Jones-themed hallway with a large boulder and rope swing

Branch office: Epic’s unconventional campus in Wisconsin also has a treehouse meeting room (pictured), and an Indiana Jones-themed hallway with a large boulder and rope swing

There is an Indiana Jones-themed hallway with a large boulder and rope swings. Meanwhile one of the offices is named ‘Medieval Times’ and has a ‘dragon’s lair’ seating area and a full-sized coat of armour.

But Wisconsin-based Epic – company motto ‘Have fun, make money, do good’ – could soon be revolutionising the way NHS records are kept.

Its computerised electronic patient system will soon start replacing a disastrous and costly scheme introduced ten years ago by Labour and scrapped by the Coalition last year.

Generous: Epic boss Judith Faulkner, who donates millions to arts projects

Epic stores the medical information for nearly 40 per cent of
Americans and is about to sign a £10 million contract for a ten-year
scheme to provide a new computer system for the prestigious Cambridge
University Hospitals and Britain’s leading heart hospital – Papworth.

Industry
insiders believe Epic will soon win the contracts for Queen Alexandra
Hospital in Portsmouth and Lewisham Hospital in South London.

Many other hospitals are expected to follow as Epic builds a national network on a trust-by-trust basis.

A source said: ‘The Epic system has been tried and tested in America and is proven to work on a grand scale. Epic went from being a small company to a billion-dollar corporation through word of mouth.

‘They do no marketing and no press. But they aggressively campaign for business and once they get a toe-hold they don’t let go.

‘In America one hospital led to another which led to another and they now have 40 per cent of the market. The company is clearly hoping to roll-out the same way in the UK.’

The Cambridge contract is the first such deal since the Government scrapped Labour’s failed attempt to create a national NHS database.

That project was begun in 2002 by another American company, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), which Health Secretary Andrew Lansley accused of ‘letting down’ the Health Service.

The CSC system proved technically impossible to deliver and the bills kept mounting.

When the Labour government awarded the NHS contract to CSC along with BT it was widely reported to be worth £6.2 billion. The cost almost doubled before the plug was pulled when the Commons Public Accounts Committee found that it had been mismanaged.

It called on the Government to write off the money already spent and instead invest in ‘systems proven to work’.

Last year, the Coalition decided to allow individual hospital trusts to choose their own systems rather than relying on a nationally imposed programme – and Epic made its move.

Unconventional image: Staff at Epic are mostly under 25s and often arrive at work in T-shirts, shorts and flip flops - with their pets

Unconventional image: Staff at Epic are mostly under 25s and often arrive at work in T-shirts, shorts and flip flops – with their pets

The company is owned by maverick billionaire Judith Faulkner, a
68-year-old Harley-Davidson-riding friend of President Barack Obama.

Epic
is known in the US for its innovation and for its unconventionality.
Faulkner, who lives in Madison in a house described by one local taxi
driver as ‘nice but not palatial’, is a generous philanthropist who
donates millions to arts projects and to the Democratic Party. She
believes strongly in offering her employees a relaxed, fun working
environment.

The address for the company’s £130 million headquarters is 1979 Milky Way, Verona, Wisconsin.

Which way to go? A life-sized replica of Tin Man from The Wizard Of Oz holding car park signs at the campus

The
‘1979’ refers to the year Faulkner founded the company in a tiny
one-room office. Within the first year Faulkner had six employees. Today
she has more than 6,000.

As visitors approach the office they pass an oval-shaped sign
declaring ‘Epic Intergalactic Headquarters’ and a large metallic Humpty
Dumpty sits on a wall.

There is a Dr Seuss Cat In The Hat sculpture, a life-sized Tin Man
from The Wizard Of Oz and street signs for ‘Northern Lights’ and ‘Hubble
Lane’.

In the 400-acre grounds, the tree house is a favourite meeting spot for staff, and the complex also has 15 acres of solar electric panels, thousands of geothermal wells for heating and acres of crops that are harvested for biomass fuel.

Many employees work Saturdays and Sundays, although they are compensated by being allowed to bring their pets to work after 5pm on weekdays and weekends.

One local says: ‘They have made the workplace as pleasant as possible because Faulkner is a workaholic and expects her staff to put in the hours too.

‘There is a gym, a soccer field, games rooms, a dry cleaner and a series of restaurants offering the best food in town.’

Last week, four construction cranes were on the site, working on new buildings. ‘There is constant work around here,’ said one employee.’ The company keeps growing and so does this place.’

A source familiar with the deal for the Cambridge hospitals said: ‘The construction work started in earnest once Epic was announced as a preferred bidder earlier this year.

‘Now that they’ve secured the first two hospitals in the UK and with other deals on the horizon they are increasing their expansion plans.’

The company is notoriously shy of the press. Faulkner routinely declines interviews and the company has never made any public comment on previously awarded tenders.

Last night a woman answering the phone at the company’s HQ said: ‘Your messages have been passed on and if we want to get back to you, we will.’