About

Private healthcare provider Ramsay Health Care – the largest provider of hospitals in Australia with more than 100 health facilities in operation – is the beneficiary of accurate, relevant and comprehensive legal advice from its group general counsel and company secretary John O’Grady. Having first joined Ramsay Health Care in January 2007, O’Grady brought with him years of private practice experience, in which he states he specialised in corporate and commercial work with a ‘strong emphasis’ on corporate governance.

O’Grady is keen to stress the need for foresight on behalf of the legal department, stating that he has ‘encouraged [Ramsay Health Care’s] executive team to get legal involved at an early stage of projects so that the legal risks can be appropriately managed. In the global office [of the company], legal now has a seat at the table and makes a contribution to assist our executive team realise their commercial objectives’. In his capacity as the leader of Ramsay’s global legal team, O’Grady has responsibility for coordinating risk management throughout the entire group. He provides input into all major acquisitions of the Ramsay Group globally and advises the board and executive on corporate governance issues, as well as liaising with regulatory bodies and ensuring he keeps abreast of relevant regulatory affairs, as his remit includes group responsibility for all company secretarial functions, including liaising with the ASX and ASIC. Recognised internally for his performance, O’Grady assumed the role of group general counsel when the Ramsay global office was established in 2015, at which time he states his ‘previous board experience was invaluable in understanding the reliance and trust non-executive directors place in general counsel’.

When asked to consider his in-house career highlights, he states: ‘Being intimately involved in the negotiations for major global acquisitions and joint ventures and overseeing the work of our external legal teams has been one of the highlights of my in-house role at Ramsay Health Care’. He adds: ‘Working with our legal in-house teams in Australia, France, the UK, and Asia to deliver a value-added service to our executive is very satisfying, [and] working alongside a group of commercially astute senior executives, where we all learn from each other, is a real privilege’.