Ascend Health

We are passionate about empowering people and the community

Our team

At Ascend Health, we have a comprehensive verification checklist for any new professional joining our team. This ensures that they can meet our high standards when providing services to all our clients.

Worker Verification

When starting with Ascend Health, we verify each of our team members' identity, check their police clearances, and ensure a valid working with children’s licence.

Reference Check

We meet with all applicants prior to accepting them into our team. We conduct at least two reference checks and verify their responses following our the interviewing process.

Ongoing verification

We are constantly looking for ways to improve the services we offer to the community by regularly following up with our members. This ensures we know what training or support our team needs.

Meet our team

Our therapists are licensed, trained, experienced, and accredited to provide a supportive and caring space to improve your capacity. Working within the concentrated care model, they'll help you to improve your independence and quality of life so that you can get back to doing the activities that you want to do.

Olivia Firth is a senior occupational therapist at Ascend Health Group

Olivia Firth

Senior Occupational Therapist

Western Australia

Olivia has worked as an Occupational Therapist in disability for 8 years and is passionate about supporting children, adolescents and young adults to maximise their performance and participation in their everyday life, with a special interest in early intervention and emotional regulation. Olivia also coordinates the training and development of healthcare providers at Ascend Health. As a Senior OT, Olivia operates and leads the team of therapists at Ascend Health.

Zachary Nielsen is the Chief Executive and senior Physiotherapist at Ascend Health Group

Zachary Nielsen

Senior Physiotherapist

Western Australia

Zach is a Curtin University-trained physiotherapist with 5 years experience in neuro-based intervention for neurological gait re-training. In addition to his neuro experience, Zach has nine years experience in the health and disability industry, and is passionate about helping people who are experiencing poor health.

Rachel Loughridge is a senior speech pathologist at Ascend Health that helps members north of Perth

Rachel Loughridge

Senior Speech Pathologist

Western Australia

Rachel has worked as a speech pathologist for 5 years, working for nearly 8 years in the disability sector. Rachel is passionate about a family-centred and trans-disciplinary approach to service delivery across therapy settings. Rachel enjoys working with children and has a special interest in early intervention, social skills and Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC).

Katherine Tran is a senior speech pathologist and lead therapist of our Adelaide team.

Kat Tran

Senior Speech Pathologist

South Australia

Kat has been working as a speech pathologist for over 4 years in Adelaide, South Australia. She has special interest in helping primary and secondary students develop their speech clarity, verbal and written language, and social language. Kat has extensive experience advocating for neurodivergent individuals.

Naomi Ng is a speech pathologist at Ascend Health that helps members north of Perth

Naomi Ng

Speech Pathologist

Western Australia

Naomi has worked as a Speech Pathologist for over 3 years and is passionate about improving people's quality of life, working closely with members, their families, and significant others. She enjoys working with both adults and children, with a special interest in early intervention and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC).

Donna Pocklington is an occupational therapist at Ascend Health Group

Donna Pocklington

Occupational Therapist

Western Australia

Donna has several years experience working as an Occupational Therapist in the disability health sector. Donna has a special interest in working with adolescents and young adults to help them achieve their goals, including working within the school environment and advocating for support for individuals.

Jordy Nixon is an occupational therapist at Ascend Health Group

Jordy Nixon

Occupational Therapist

Western Australia

Jordy has experience supporting people with differing abilities and helping them engage in their environment and achieve their goals as both a support worker and Occupational Therapist. She's a passionate and energetic and has a special interest working in the early intervention space and empowering children and their families to reach their goals.

Luke Andrews is one of Ascend Health Group's friendly support workers.

Luke Andrews

Occupational Therapist

Western Australia

Luke is an Occupational Therapist from Curtin University. With 3 years work experience at Ascend Health as a support worker, mentor, therapy assistant, and OT, Luke enjoys working with families and helping people with differing abilities to achieve their goals and improve their quality of life. Luke has a special interest in working with teenagers and young adults transitioning into adulthood, independent living, and the workforce.

Eadaoin O'Reilly is a physiotherapist for Ascend Health in Perth.

Eadaoin O'Reilly

Physiotherapist

Western Australia

Eadaoin is an experienced physiotherapist originally from Ireland that has over six years experience in the field of adult and paediatric physiotherapy. She has a strong interest in making sports and physical activity more accessible, and enjoys promoting healthy living in individuals of all ages. Eadaoin is passionate about helping people live their best lives.

Timothy Squire is a Perth based occupational therapist at Ascend Health

Timothy Squire

Occupational Therapist

Western Australia

Tim is a new Occupational Therapist from Curtin University. He has worked as a Support Worker, Team Leader and Therapy Assistant at Ascend Health over the past three years. Tim is passionate about helping all people live their most enjoyable and fulfilling lives by working together to achieve their goals. Tim is also passionate about helping the next generation of support workers step into leadership roles.

Deon Noronha is a speech pathologist at Ascend Health that helps members north of Perth

Deon Noronha

Speech Pathologist

Western Australia

Deon is a Speech Pathologist that has experience as a support worker and therapist and is new to the Ascend Health team. He has a passion for working in the disability industry and enjoys helping individuals achieve their goals and improve their quality of life. Deon has a special interest in working in early intervention and with adults impacted by neurological conditions.

A picture of Bruno, the Ascend Health Group Mascot and service dog

Bruno

Therapy Dog & Mascot

Western Australia

Bruno is a trained and qualified therapy assistance dog. Lately, Bruno has been making new friends with some of our members. His visits are a great way to get motivated to move and step out of the house as a goal for improving community participation.

Our mentors coordinate the support workers that operate in small teams throughout Perth. They have a diverse range of tasks, and can include training draftees (new support workers), problem-solving, checking feedback on progress notes, communicating with support workers, provide weekly training, and report any feedback, complaints and any changes within the company.

Anna Gunningham is one of Ascend Health's friendly support workers and Team Leaders.

Anna Gunningham

Joondalup Team Leader

Shannon Moffat is one of Ascend Health's friendly support workers and Team Leaders.

Shannon Moffat

Ellenbrook Team Leader

Michelle Vuaillat is one of Ascend Health's friendly support workers and Team Leaders.

Michelle Vuaillat

Karrinyup Team Leader

Kate Grady is a mentor and team leader at Ascend Health

Kate Grady

Kalamunda Team Leader

Mason Dodds is one of Ascend Health's friendly support workers and Team Leaders.

Mason Dodds

North Perth Team Leader

Cam Gardner Ascend Health Group

Cam Gardner

South Perth Team Leader

Matthew Harrup is one of Ascend Health Group's friendly support workers.

Matthew Harrup

Fremantle Team Leader

Tylah King Ascend Health Group

Tylah King

Canning Team Leader

Cate McGrath is one of Ascend Health Group's friendly support workers.

Cate McGrath

Mandurah Team Leader

Ruby Vyse is one of Ascend Health's friendly support workers and Team Leaders.

Ruby Vyse

Beechboro Team Leader

Max Soet Ascend Health Group

Max Soet

Greenwood Team Leader

Kate Grady is a mentor and team leader at Ascend Health

Kate Grady

Swan Team Leader

Ainsley Gee is a mentor and team leader at Ascend Health

Ainsley Gee

Belmont Team Leader

Daniel Menezes is one of Ascend Health's friendly support workers and Team Leaders.

Daniel Menezes

Murdoch Team Leader

Daniel Cabassi is an Ascend Health Group team mentor

Daniel Cabassi

Mandurah Team Leader

Erika Manzinger is one of Ascend Health's friendly support workers and Team Leaders.

Erika Manzinger

Maddington Team Leader

A picture of Zachary Nielsen, the Chief Executive and senior Physiotherapist at Ascend Health Group

Zachary Nielsen

Chief Executive

‍Zach is a Curtin University-trained physiotherapist and entrepreneur. He has  experience in the health and disability industry, and is passionate about helping people who are experiencing poor health.

Ascend Health Group's chief operating officer and physiotherapist Olivia Mann

Olivia Mann

Chief Operating Officer

Olivia is a trained physiotherapist and COO of Ascend Health. She ensures that operations run smoothly on a day-to-day basis and being responsible for ensuring our staff are meeting the needs of our members.

Samuel Kitchen is the Chief Financial Officer at Ascend Health

Samuel Kitchen

Chief Financial Officer

Bio coming soon.

A picture of Peter Edwards, the Chief Technology Officer of Ascend Health Group

Peter Edwards

Chief of Staff

Pete's background is in Physiotherapy and Health Studies. His focus is on staff wellbeing and helping to make sure that Ascend supports our therapists and support workers so they can do their best work.

Sarah Zainal is the Recruitment Officer at Ascend Health

Sarah Zainal

Recruitment Officer

Sarah is a UWA graduate in Human Resources Management. She is responsible for recruiting the highest quality staff into Ascend Health as well as ensuring that all of our members are getting the very best support services.

Ania Czekaj is the lead software engineer at Ascend Health Group

Ania Czekaj

Lead Software Engineer

Ania is experienced in the fast-paced world of tech startups, and is responsible for building Ascend Health Plus. This industry leading piece of software will revolutionise the way healthcare services are delivered to the community.

Robert Duff-Silsby is the safety and compliance manager for Ascend Health Group.

Robert Duff-Silsby

Marketing Manager

Robert has been with Ascend Health since the beginning of 2021 after completing his Psychology degree. Initially working as the marketing manager, he changed roles to safety and compliance to assist Ascend become a registered NDIS provider before returning to marketing.

Meet Ascend Health Group's friendly support workers.

Hannah Wright

Safety & Compliance Officer

Bio coming soon...

Meet Ascend Health Group's friendly support workers.

Jay Sprigg

Customer Engagement Officer

Bio coming soon...

Over 90 university students providing high-quality support work for our members.

Increase your capacity with Ascend Health

Your support services are designed to address your unique goals and want you to feel comfortable with your ongoing support needs. We arrange an initial meet-and-greet between all our new clients and potential students until you find the right support worker for you.

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© Ascend Health 2017 - NDIS registration number 4050028857