Alumnus Dedicated to Australia’s COVID Fight

Peter Markey ’01 also shares his experience as a health outcomes analyst with SHU students

Sacred Heart University alumnus Peter Markey ’01 spent 2020 working for the COVID-19 emergency response team in Victoria, Australia, after his skills and talents as a health outcomes analyst attracted attention.

In April, Markey, 41, was asked to take a leave of absence from his job at a Melbourne, Australia, hospital and university to join Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Service’s COVID-19 epidemiological group. He currently serves as the principal analyst on the modeling and analytics team. The small group of specialists worked long hours developing policy, entering and clarifying data and more while the state remained on strict lockdown. “It was chaotic, but interesting,” Markey said.

Like most health departments, Australia’s was equipped to handle outbreaks of the measles or food poisoning from tainted produce—nothing on a scale that could prepare them for the coronavirus pandemic. Markey said the department was creating reactionary policies on the spot, deciding strategies such as whether to close borders. Cases spiked and data came in so fast that Markey spent nights simply entering numbers. The data went into visuals and infographics so the greater community could digest them more easily. Efforts between government agencies were coordinated so everyone was on the same page.

Markey’s job from April to December was fast-paced and high adrenaline, with pressure to provide information under tight deadlines. “We were coming up with data for a day-to-day emergency management plan,” he said, adding that he felt like he was making a difference during the unprecedented circumstances.

Victoria’s residents banded together and followed the lockdown and curfews that were enacted. As in the U.S., Australia’s retail business and restaurants shut down; only grocery stores and pharmacies stayed open. Anyone who worked a night shift, like Markey, had to carry a special permit. “It was really a painful process,” Markey said. “But the community got behind it. We gave up our rights for a short amount of time.”

From mid-October to Christmas, there were no cases until a breach from the international quarantine program entered the community.

Before the winter holidays, Markey said he couldn’t believe he was about to go Christmas shopping in actual brick-and-mortar stores. He also was able to enjoy a gathering with colleagues—something he never thought would happen in 2020.

While there was much to celebrate, Markey was exhausted. He took time off to recharge.

SHU’s role

Markey transferred to Sacred Heart as a sophomore in the tail-end of the 1990s and wasted no time getting involved in the campus community, especially with the office of volunteer programs & service learning (VPSL). Volunteer work became a passion for him, and he was one of the first participants in a VPSL initiative, Community Connections, that is now among the most popular at SHU. The program introduces incoming students to service opportunities in the Bridgeport area and increases their understanding of urban issues. Students are housed at two of the city’s churches while they work on various projects throughout the week, from painting structures to gardening and general maintenance.

Markey spent his junior and senior years as a student leader for Community Connections. “It really was a wonderful program,” he said.

Markey also coached a youth basketball team in Bridgeport, volunteered at local food kitchens and was a proud participant of Habitat for Humanity.

When he wasn’t volunteering, he worked on completing his double major in economics and political science. He landed four internships during his SHU career at places such as the state legislature and Bristol Myers Squibb. “Sacred Heart helped me figure out what I wanted to do,” he said.

The University’s liberal arts education provided Markey with a combination of practice and experience. He credits his courses, volunteer work and internships with readying him for the real world and believes the effects of his college experiences came into full play about a decade into his career, when he stepped into senior roles. “That education made me a leader,” he said. “I really value it.”

Additionally, Markey said he was able to create genuine connections at SHU. His professors had a profound impact on him, and he remembers Gary Rose, John Kikoski, David Coppola, Bridget Lyons and others fondly. In fact, as he talked about his professors, he realized many of the books from his favorite classes were on a bookshelf behind him, including the textbook from Coppola’s Jewish-Christian relations class “I still reference some of these books,” he said.

His positive memories and experiences at SHU are precisely why Markey agreed to participate in a job-shadow program hosted by the University’s advancement and career development offices. Markey virtually met with a few students who share his interests. He answered their questions and led the students in the right direction for the careers they want to achieve. Even though Markey was their adviser, he saw the experience as a two-way connection. “I learned just as much as them,” he said, and he hoped he provided guidance and assurance to the Pioneers.

Career

The connections Markey made through his volunteer work, plus the experience he gained on his internships, led him to his first job at Aon Hewitt in Norwalk. He did a lot of consulting work, which provided him with great discipline. After about four years, he decided to take a break from the 9-to-5 job, during which he traveled and earned his master’s degree in industrial organizational psychology. When a position with the U.S. Foreign Service fell through, Markey decided it was a good time to move to Australia. It has been his home for the last 15 years.

Melbourne, where Markey lives with his wife, Julianne, reminds him of Boston, he said. It has many cafes, universities and Port Philip Bay. “It’s very comfortable,” he said.

In Australia, Markey put his master’s degree to use working in human resources management and helping to organize businesses’ interests. While working in human resources for a biopharmaceutical company, he developed an interest in health care. 

“I saw how complicated and important it is,” Markey said. “Health care has such an impact on people’s lives, it so fundamental.”

Before and during the COVID-19 emergency response, he worked for Alfred Hospital and Monash University, partnering directly with clinicians and researchers to leverage data from electronic medical records, government sources and research to facilitate health outcome  decision-making in the hospital.