Enabling Secure, Resilient IT for a Rapidly Growing Community Health Organisation
KMT helps a growing community health organisation strengthen their cyber security and IT resilience.
2014
Founded
Head Office
Melbourne
Business
Managed Services & Cyber Security
Service
30+
Office Locations
900-1000
Staff
The organisation behind essential health services
cohealth is a community health organisation delivering essential healthcare services across Australia. Formed through a merger of three community health providers, the organisations expanded quickly in response to changes in healthcare funding and service delivery models.
Today, cohealth delivers a wide range of services including medical and dental care, mental health programs, refugee health services, paediatric care, alcohol and drug support, urgent care services, and community outreach initiatives. With approximately 30 locations and a diverse workforce supporting thousands of community members, cohealth operates in complex and dynamic environments where technology reliability and security are critical.
Handling sensitive patient information means strong cybersecurity and resilient IT operations are essential to maintaining trust and continuity of care.
When growth and risk converge
cohealth faced several challenges that converged at a critical moment for the organisation.
First, leadership recognised that the cybersecurity posture wasn’t where it needed to be. Technology support was largely managed in-house, but increasing operational complexity and evolving cyber threats exposed gaps in capability. An external assessment confirmed that cybersecurity maturity levels were low, with many controls sitting at baseline levels.
At the same time, internal organisational change added further pressure. A restructure of cohealth’s Knowledge, Information, and Technology (KIT) department resulted in unexpected staff turnover, creating resource gaps and increasing strain on the existing service desk.
What did cohealth need?
A partner who could:
- Quickly and confidently uplift cybersecurity capabilities in line with Department of Health expectations
- Stabilise IT operations during a period of transition
- Deliver personalised support for a workforce of more than 1,000 staff across varied clinical and community environments
- Provide scalable support without losing the human touch that staff relied on
Initially, cohealth questioned whether an outsourced provider could meet the organisation’s need for personalised, high-touch service.
Stabilising operations during change
cohealth engaged KMT initially to deliver target cybersecurity uplift projects. Early initiatives included implementing multi-factor authentication and addressing priority security gaps identified during external assessments.
Following the KIT restructure, cohealth expanded the partnership, asking KMT to provide augmented service desk support at short notice. KMT stepped in immediately, ensuring continuity of operations while cohealth navigated internal change.
Over time, the partnership evolved into a comprehensive secure modern workplace model that combined managed service desk support, security operations centre (SOC) services, cybersecurity governance and control implementation, infrastructure and server management, and security awareness training for staff.
A key differentiator was KMT’s commitment to delivering a dedicated team aligned closely with cohealth’s environment. This approach ensured staff experienced consistent support from familiar faces who understood the organisation’s workflows, challenges, and operational nuances.
Rather than replacing internal expertise, KMT operated as an extension of cohealth’s IT function. The managed service desk served as the front line, triaging, and resolving issues while escalating complex cases to cohealth’s internal subject matter experts when required.
“We were skeptical about whether an external provider could deliver the level of service we needed. We didn’t think an MSP could offer the personalised, individual touch required for our more than 1000 employees. However, KMT stepped up to the mark. Their commitment to personalised service while still offering the benefits of a larger team has been a game changer.”
A measurable shift in security maturity and operational confidence
The results were transformational.
From a cybersecurity perspective, cohealth progressed from Essential Eight maturity levels of zero and one across most controls to achieving level two across all controls, exceeding expectations by reaching level three maturity in multiple areas. Essential security practices were embedded across the organisation, significantly strengthening its resilience against cyber threats.
“The change was significant. Before KMT, we had an external assessment done that showed we were at a maturity level of zero or one across the board. Now with KMT, we reached level two across all controls and level three in 13 of them. We’ve made substantial progress and we feel much more confident in our cybersecurity posture.”
Operationally, cohealth gained a stable, scalable service desk capable of supporting a distributed workforce, improved consistency in IT support delivery, greater visibility into risks and infrastructure performance, and confidence in incident response and recovery capabilities.
For an organisation operating on tight budgets typical of community health providers, the ability to achieve meaningful security improvements efficiently was critical.
Most importantly, cohealth’s teams reported increased confidence in their cybersecurity posture and greater peace of mind knowing that sensitive patient information was better protected.
“We operate with a limited budget, so it’s crucial that our investments in cybersecurity are efficient and effective. KMT has been instrumental in helping us achieve and maintain this level of security without breaking the bank.”
Partnership built on consistency and trust
What began as a discrete cybersecurity project evolved into a strategic partnership built on trust, responsiveness, and shared understanding.
KMT worked closely with cohealth’s leadership and technical teams, supporting board-level planning and long-term cybersecurity strategy while remaining accessible and flexible when urgent needs arose. The relationship-focused approach ensured that solutions were not only technically effective but aligned with cohealth’s mission-driven culture and operational realities.
Today, cohealth benefits from a modern, secure IT environment that enables staff to focus on delivering essential healthcare services to the communities that rely on them.
