When Dr Haider Najjar left Baghdad, the city was still reeling from the 1990-91 Gulf War and the rumblings of the Iraq War had already begun.

“I came to Melbourne to complete my [medical] training and gained a completely different perspective on life,” he says. “When you arrive in Australia from a war-torn country, the opportunities seem limitless.”

With an interest in female health, his ambition was to be part of a state-of-the-art women’s health clinic that would provide excellent care to women and families.

“I wanted to work with like-minded doctors and also collaborate with general practitioners to create a multi-disciplinary team approach,” he says.

In 2015, Dr Najjar achieved his goal. He and fellow specialists Dr Scott Pearce, Dr Tom Manley and Dr Mei Cheah founded Create Health to provide a wide range of services focused on women’s health and wellbeing. Then, in 2023, they added a specialised fertility clinic, Create Fertility. Today, Dr Najjar and his co-founders are delighted by how both businesses have grown.

“In the eight years since we launched Create Health, we have more than doubled the number of doctors and established teams of scientists, nurses, support staff and admin,” Dr Najjar says. “Then we started Create Fertility, which has also been growing.”

A match for the world’s best

Create Fertility focuses on in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and, according to Dr Najjar, its state-of-the-art equipment is a match for any of the world’s leading laboratories.

“Our specialists use a time-lapse EmbryoScope+ to continuously monitor the development of embryos without disturbing them,” he says. “We can test for hereditary genetic conditions in embryos before implanting them. And we have also had amazing success with the ovarian PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma) technology we introduced last year to help increase the chance that women with a low egg reserve will fall pregnant, naturally or with IVF.”

In fact, Create Fertility was the first Victorian fertility clinic to conduct an ovarian PRP procedure and the event attracted widespread interest from the mainstream media.

It’s also leading the way in fertility surgery. “Our specialists are all highly trained in using the latest technologies for minimally invasive surgery,” Dr Najjar says.

“We can now complete most procedures through one cut in the navel, which is much more acceptable cosmetically. And, in general, patients also recover more quickly.”

A place where science meets love

Create Fertility uses the term ‘science plus love’ to encapsulate its approach to fertility treatment – a combination of cutting-edge scientific techniques and compassionate, personalised care.

“Research has shown that, in medicine in general, having a good rapport with patients makes a significant difference to outcomes,” Dr Najjar says. “For us, it also represents our integrity and professionalism. We believe it’s a privilege when someone walks into your room and, even though they’ve never met you before, they trust you to look after them well. I believe that showing all your patients love and respect will make you a better doctor.”

Longstanding NAB relationship pays dividends

Dr Najjar has been with NAB for over two decades, since he started as a sole practitioner and was introduced to NAB Health Senior Health Banking Manager Andrew Francis.

“As with all of our customers, we took the time to understand what Dr Najjar, Dr Pearce, Dr Manley and Dr Cheah wanted to achieve so that we could match a solution to their goals,” Andrew says.

“We also drew on other NAB specialists for specific advice in areas such as managing interest rates, equipment and structuring deals. Medfin was also a part of the solution when Create Health moved to its new premises. All four Create Health clients were already established as successful practitioners with existing patients and a clear idea of what they would earn so, right from the start, we had every confidence in their success.”

Dr Najjar and his co-founders are highly appreciative of the support they’ve received over the years. As he says, “I can’t imagine being where we are now without the lovely partnership we’ve had with NAB.”