Executive Director Clinical Services, NSW Ambulance
Allan Loudfoot has over 30 years of experience as an executive and senior manager working within ambulance services in Australia, the United Kingdom and the Middle East. More recently, Allan has been responsible for leading the NSW Ambulance Occupational Violence Prevention Committee.
During his time with NSW Ambulance, Allan has been responsible for managing the Northern Division, overseeing a budget of over $100 million and 900 staff located across 62 locations; the state clinical services portfolio including oversight of clinical governance and patient safety functions; and coordination of NSW Ambulance clinical performance and development. Allan has facilitated the design and implementation of stroke and cardiac care systems and has also been involved in various clinical research projects and clinical improvement programs.
Research Fellow, National Health and Medical Research Centre and Senior Lecturer in Public Health, Western Sydney University
Dr Amit Arora is a NHMRC Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Public Health, Western Sydney University. He holds research appointments in Sydney and South Western Sydney Local Health Districts and the University of Sydney. A co-leader of the Epidemiology Collaboration Research Group, Western Sydney University, AMit is also affiliated to Collaboration for Oral Health Outcomes, Research, Translation and Evaluation Research Group and Early Years Research Group at Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research.
Amit made significant contributions to the field of migrant, social disadvantage and dental public health, winning nearly $1M from Australian Federal and NSW governments for public health in disadvantaged communities in Greater Western Sydney. Part of his world class research is following a group of 1000 socially disadvantaged children since birth to assess relationships between poor oral health and overweight and/or obesity. He supervises higher degree research students at Western Sydney University, and serves as a member on several panels improving health of disadvantaged Australians.
General Practitioner and Chair of the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network
Dr Andrew Knight is a clinical GP and Chair of the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network which supports primary care in a region of 350000 people. He has had a long term commitment to improving general practice through leadership in vocational training of family practitioners and quality improvement.
He is a staff specialist at the Fairfield GP Unit and is a director of NPS MedicineWise which supports improved decisions about quality use of medicines and medical tests and technologies. He is a conjoint senior lecturer at UNSW Australia, Western Sydney University and a clinical senior lecturer at the University of Sydney.
Health Director, NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet
Anita Truninger is the Health Director in the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet. Her team provide advice and support to the NSW Premier on both health policy and projects – which currently include the Premier’s Priority on Childhood Obesity.
Her work often involves working across government and dealing with external stakeholders. Prior to joining government, Anita worked as a business consultant here and overseas.
Clinical Nurse Consultant, Prince of Wales Hospital
Anne Meller is a clinical nurse consultant employed by Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney. Her role is to assist adults and those close to them with advance care planning. She has over 25 years' experience in aged health care from a variety of positions and settings.
Anne holds a Bachelor of Health Science (Nursing), and has completed postgraduate studies in Gerontology, Public Health and Health Administration. She has published several papers in peer reviewed journals.
Chief Executive, NSW Health Education and Training Institute
Adjunct Professor Annette Solman is the Chief Executive of the NSW Health Education and Training Institute (HETI). Annette has significant experience working within the public health sector in a range of roles encompassing nursing, health management, multi-professional education, culture change, quality improvement and person centred research. Previous roles have included Acting Chief Executive of Sydney Children’s Hospital Network.
Annette is an Adjunct Professor with the University of Technology Sydney and the University of Sydney. She is also a member of the International Practice Development Collaborative and the International Practice Development Colloquium.
Nursing Unit Manager, Central Coast Local Health District
Ben Roberts has over 10 years’ experience in acute mental health nursing, management and critical care. He holds a Bachelor of Nursing, Diploma of Management, and Diploma of Project Management – Clinical Redesign. Ben is the manager of two emergency department mental health teams and a psychiatric emergency care centre.
During 2014-2015, Ben jointly lead a clinical redesign project aimed to improve the experience of mental health consumers presenting to the emergency department and in 2016 co-led the Central Coast Local Health District's Reducing Unplanned Readmissions Project.
Radiation Oncologist, Mid North Coast Cancer Institute
Dr Carmen Hansen is a radiation oncologist at the Mid North Coast Cancer Institute, Port Macquarie. Carmen completed her radiation oncology training in Queensland, before undertaking a fellowship in the breast service at The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. She has been instrumental in the development of advanced radiotherapy techniques for breast cancer patients of the Mid North Coast.
Carmen is also active in radiation oncology education, currently serving as the Director of Training in Port Macquarie and the Co-Chair of the Cancer Institute eviQ Radiation Oncology Reference Committee.
Chief Executive, NSW Clinical Excellence Commission
Carrie Marr is the Chief Executive of the NSW Clinical Excellence Commission. Carrie brings a wealth of experience in quality improvement and patient safety, both within Australia and overseas to the role. Prior to her role of Chief Executive for the CEC she was the Executive Director, Organisation Effectiveness at Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD). Carrie earlier held a number of leading executive and consultant positions in the United Kingdom where she specialised in organisational effectiveness, modernisation and development. Carrie was with the National Health Service, Scotland, Tayside Health Board where she held a number of senior positions including Director of the Tayside Centre for Organisational Effectiveness; Associate Director Change and Innovation; and Head of Modernisation and Development. Earlier she held the positions of Head of Learning and Development for Tayside Acute Hospitals and Director of Development for the National Health Service, Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway Health Board.
Carrie began her career in health as a nurse before moving into nursing education at St Columbus Hospice, Edinburgh, and after that with the Royal College of Nursing, Scotland. Carrie holds a Bachelor of Science (Nursing); a Diploma in Education (Nurse Teaching); and a Master of Science (Organisation Consulting). She has also completed an advanced training program in Quality Improvement at Intermountain Health Care, Utah, USA.
Director of Emergency Medicine, Hornsby Kuring-Gai Hospital
Dr Clare Skinner is Director of Emergency Medicine at Hornsby Kuring-Gai Hospital. She is a specialist emergency physician with interests in clinical redesign, medication safety, clinical reasoning and medical education. She completed her specialist training at Royal North Shore Hospital, and has strong links to the University of Sydney, as a lecturer in the Master of Medicine (Critical Care) degree, and previously as curriculum advisor to the Sydney Medical Program.
She is privileged to work with a team of creative and caring health professionals at Hornsby Kuring-Gai Hospital who work closely together to provide excellent patient care.
Project Manager, NSW Ministry of Health
Damien McCaul is a project manager with the Clinical Benchmarking team at the Health System Information and Performance Reporting Branch of the NSW Ministry of Health.
Damien is a registered nurse with over 20 years of experience working in various roles in mental health services in NSW and Ireland. His area of interest is in the use of data to inform policy, service design and clinical practice.
Chief Executive, Western Sydney Local Health District
Danny O'Connor was appointed Chief Executive of the Western Sydney Local Health District in January 2011. He believes the primary purpose of healthcare is to improve people’s lives. Central to success is a strong partnership with consumers in continually improving the services we provide. Likewise, strong partnership is required between science and practice to ensure the continuous evolution of best practice in clinical care and population health programs.
Danny currently serves on the Boards of the Western Sydney Local Health District Board (ex-officio), Westmead Millennium Institute, NSW HealthShare, Westmead Medical Research Foundation and WentWest Primary Health Network.
Organisational Support Manager, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District
Dawn Fowler has an extensive experience as registered nurse and health service manager. As a senior health manager and having responsibility for the financial, operational and strategic management of Medicine and Critical Care Services at St George and Sutherland Hospitals, Dawn has had a strong focus on the development of services and in working with clinicians to improving performance and reducing waste.
In 2016 Dawn took up the role of Organisational Performance Support Manager in Sputh Eastern Sydney Local Health District and works clinical and executive staff to manage, monitor and support the performance of high quality clinical services across a spectrum of health care delivery settings in the local health district.
Senior Project Officer, NSW Ministry of Health
Deborah Hoban is a Senior Project Officer – Pathways to Community Living Initiative (PCLI) for the Mental Health Branch, NSW Ministry of Health.
Deb is an occupational therapist with over 25 years' experience working in clinical, managerial, academic and policy roles within health services in both metropolitan and rural areas of NSW, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Deb is committed to consumer directed health care and interested in the exploration of innovative models to truly realise this aim.
Acting Chief Executive, Agency for Clinical Innovation
Professor Donald MacLellan completed his science and medical degrees at Glasgow University before training in general surgery in Melbourne. Donald held the position of Professor of Surgery at the University of Melbourne for 6 years before becoming Professor of Surgery at the University of Sydney.
Donald has worked as the NSW State-Wide Program Director of Surgery since 2005. He has worked extensively with the Surgical Services Taskforce, local health districts, and other clinical networks to make significant improvements in surgical service delivery over the past 7 years. Donald brings considerable clinical knowledge and experience to ACI and is passionate about working collaboratively with clinicians and managers in the networks to improve patient centred care.
Physiotherapy Advisor, Murrumbidgee Local Health District
Emily Farquhar is the Murrumbidgee Local Health District Physiotherapy Advisor and Wagga Wagga Rural Referral Hospital Physiotherapist in Charge. Emily has had extensive experience working as a clinician in rural NSW and has a passion for rural healthcare.
Secretary, NSW Health
Elizabeth commenced her career as an allied health professional working in a range of clinical settings both in NSW and Victoria before undertaking further qualifications in public health and health policy.
Elizabeth has held a number of Senior Executive planning and operational roles within the NSW health system, including Chief Executive of the Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Director, Clinical Operations, South Eastern Sydney Illawarra Area Health Service and Director, Population Health Planning and Performance, South Eastern Sydney Illawarra Area Health Service.
In February 2015, Elizabeth commenced in the role of Deputy Secretary, Strategy and Resources at the NSW Ministry of Health where she was responsible for strategic health policy development, inter-jurisdictional negotiations, system-wide planning of health services, and setting the strategic direction for whole of government responses to many intractable social problems.
In May 2016, Elizabeth was appointed Secretary, NSW Health. As Secretary, Elizabeth is committed to strategically re-shaping health services to provide better value care and improved patient outcomes, ensuring NSW continues to lead the nation in delivering high quality care to its communities.
Health Promotion Program Manager, NSW Ministry of Health
Gemma Hearnshaw is the Health Promotion Program Manager at the NSW STI Programs Unit, Centre for Population Health.
Gemma holds a Bachelor of Psychology from Leeds University and a Master of Public Health from the University of NSW. With a background in marketing and expertise in sexual health promotion for young people, Gemma leads the social marketing program for the NSW Sexual Health Promotion Framework, managing a portfolio of sexual health projects and campaigns. She is passionate about use of digital technology for health promotion.
District Clinical Coordinator - Specialist Mental Health Services for Older People (SMHSOP), Western NSW Local Health District
Ian Rawson is the District Clinical Coordinator for Specialist Mental Health Services for Older People (SMHSOP) in the Western NSW Local Health District, where over a period of 10 years he has overseen the development and growth of mental health services for Older People in the rural and remote regions of Western NSW.
Ian is also currently involved in the transformation of mental health and drug & alcohol services in Western NSW which will see a large scale re-development of community services and models of care with the aim of allowing long term patients of psychiatric hospitals to live in the community. Ian is a social worker by background.
Aged Care Emergency Clinical Nurse Consultant, Hunter New England Local Health District
Jacqui Hewitt has been the Aged Care Emergency (ACE) CNC for Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD) since 2010 and has been a registered nurse for 35 years. The bulk of her nursing career has been in rural NSW and has predominantly involved emergency and aged care nursing. As a lead clinician in a clinical services team Jacqui provides an expert clinical consultancy in the aged care emergency service to support the delivery of excellent patient/client care for people residing within residential aged care facilities across all Local Government Areas within the HNELHD. Her role is to coordinate a comprehensive hospital avoidance strategy in collaboration with both external and internal stakeholders.
Prior to the ACE role Jacqui was an ASET (Aged Services in Emergency Teams) at John Hunter Hospital Emergency Department for 7 years. Completing tertiary studies including two graduate certificates for Emergency Nursing and Generalist Nursing Advanced, she also has a Masters in Advanced Practice Nursing (Aged Care). Jacqui has been involved in collaborative ventures with academic institutions and colleagues to contribute to the development of future directions of nursing practice. She has acted as a principal researcher in significant/large scale research studies contributing significantly to the development of nursing science and clinical practice delivery.
Director, Back on Track Physiotherapy Corowa
Jeremy Carr is the Director of Back on Track Physiotherapy Corowa. He completed his Bachelor of Physiotherapy degree at Charles Sturt University in 2005. Since then he has also completed his Masters of Sports Physiotherapy and is now recognised as an APA Sports Physiotherapist.
Apart from his clinical work Jeremy has also been involved in research projects that include the role of running retraining to manage running related injuries.
Director, Health Protection NSW
Dr Jeremy McAnulty is a public health physician and Director of Health Protection NSW, overseeing the public health aspects of communicable disease control and environmental health. Formerly he has been Director of the Communicable Diseases Branch, Director of the Southern Sydney Public Health Unit, and HIV epidemiologist with Oregon Health Division.
Jeremy has a Master of Public Health, and trained with NSW Health’s public health training scheme, and the US CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service. He has led and published on a range of public health investigations and responses.
Medical student, University of New South Wales
Joshua Mortimer is a graduating medical student from the University of New South Wales' Rural Clinical School in Coffs Harbour. Joshua is committed to improving health outcomes for regional, rural and remote communities, and is the current Vice Chair of the National Rural Health Student Network.
In 2014, during his Honours year, Joshua worked with the North Coast Cancer Institute to examine economic and clinical outcome from the use of hypofractionated breast cancer radiotherapy. Joshua will be undertaking his Internship within the Mid North Coast Local Health District at Coffs Harbour Health Campus in 2017.
Deputy Secretary, Governance, Workforce and Corporate, NSW Ministry of Health
Ms Crawshaw holds Bachelor degrees in Arts and Law, is admitted to the NSW Supreme Court and High Court and holds an unrestricted practising certificate from the NSW Law Society.
Ms Crawshaw has held various government legal positions, including NSW Health’s Director Legal and General Counsel. In 2007 Ms Crawshaw was appointed as a Deputy Director-General and in her current role as Deputy Secretary, Governance, Workforce and Corporate she has policy responsibility within NSW Health for corporate governance, workforce, industrial relations, business reform, asset management and procurement, strategic communications, ministerial and executive services and legal and regulatory services.
In 2012 Ms Crawshaw was appointed to the Management Committee of the Australian Practitioner Regulation Agency. She is also on the board of HealthShare NSW.
Ms Crawshaw was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2012 for her significant contributions to the public sector.
Senior Staff Specialist, St Vincent's Hospital and Laboratory Head in Clinical Obesity, Nutrition and Adipose Biology, Garvan Institute of Medical Research
Katherine Samaras is a senior staff specialist in endocrinology and metabolism at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney and Laboratory Head in Clinical Obesity, Nutrition and Adipose Biology at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. Her research is helping to unravel the mysteries of fat tissue and how it affects our health, particularly how inflammation promotes different diseases, including diabetes, heart failure, cognitive decline and dementia.
Katherine is the doctor in the Make Healthy Normal television commercials and a member of the NSW Health Childhood Overweight and Obesity Premier’s Priority Expert Advisory Panel.
Nursing Unit Manager, Nambucca Valley Dialysis Unit, Mid North Coast Local Health District.
Leanne Kelly completed her nursing studies in 1991. In 2007 Leanne received a qualification enabling her to specialise in nephrology nursing. Leanne began her renal nursing career in Alice Springs in 2007 and worked in the Northern Territory. This included two years in the remote communities of Santa Teresa, Ti Tree, Ali Curung, Hermansburg and Yuendumu.
In 2012, Leanne moved to the Kimberley’s, working in renal in Broome, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing and Kununurra WA. On returning to NSW, Leanne worked in renal at a private hospital before her current role at the Nambucca Valley Dialysis Unit as Nursing Unit Manager.
Go4Fun Exercise Leader, Western Sydney and Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health Districts
Leesa Kaimoana has been a Go4Fun Exercise Leader for Western Sydney and Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health Districts for three years. She is trained in fitness and has worked as a Stepping on Falls prevention facilitator. Leesa has also co-founded and ran a free community-based fitness program called "Get Healthy in Our City".
Leesa is an avid promoter of Go4Fun as she has seen the benefits of the program within her own family, completing it as a parent with her daughter. She loves that Go4Fun benefits the whole family, and that it has a holistic approach to a healthier lifestyle. She is currently an exercise leader in Emerton and Mount Druitt and cannot wait to see the positive difference that the program makes to the families in Western Sydney.
Integrated Care Manager, Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network
Lisa Altman is the Integrated Care Manager for the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network. The SCHN Kids Guided Personalised Services (GPS) Integrated Care Initiative supports families who are caring for children with complex and chronic conditions by developing shared care models that bring together local health services with the tertiary hospitals.
Over the last five years, Lisa has worked exclusively on health programs, from leading a project team of 60 in securing the Fiona Stanley Hospital Systems Integration and Communications Technologies contract to her last role as the Director of Health for British Telecom (BT) in Australasia. Lisa was previously Head of Major Deals for BT in South East Asia, based in Singapore.
Director of Health Promotion, South Western Sydney Local Health District
Mandy Williams has over 18 years’ experience in leading one of the largest health promotion services in NSW. She has overseen the development and implementation of a number of public health interventions across a wide range of issues. Ms Williams is currently Director of the Health Promotion Service, South Western Sydney Local Health District which develops and implements community-based programs to improve and maintain population health and reduce inequities in health outcomes. Ms Williams has substantial experience in the management of public health research interventions including those involving children and young families, obesity and diabetes prevention, mental health promotion and falls in older people.
CEO, Genome.One, Head of Kinghorn Centre for Clinical Genomics, Garvan Institute of Medical Research and Associate Professor, UNSW Australia
Marcel Dinger is the Head of the Kinghorn Centre for Clinical Genomics (KCCG), conjoint Associate Professor at UNSW Australia and CEO of Genome.One. KCCG was one of the first sites in the world to implement the HiSeq X Ten genome sequencing platform, which has capacity to sequence 18,000 whole human genomes per year. The aims of the Centre are to establish genomic medicine in routine healthcare and to leverage clinical genomic data for research.
Dr Dinger is an author on over 75 papers, and in 2016, his research contributions were recognised by admission as a Fellow to the Faculty of Science of the Royal Association of Pathologists of Australasia.
Radiation Oncologist, Liverpool and Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre
Dr Mark Sidhom is a radiation oncologist at Liverpool and Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre. He has more than 10 years’ experience as a specialist in the management of urological malignancies including prostate cancer, and is an executive member of the Australasian radiation oncology genitourinary group.
Dr Sidhom is actively involved in clinical trial development and recruitment, and is currently a principal investigator on the largest prostate stereotactic radiotherapy trial in Australia (Prometheus), investigating the role of stereotactic radiotherapy as a non-invasive approach to curing prostate cancer.
Manager, Work Health Safety and Wellbeing, Murrumbidgee Local Health District
Meredith McClelland is a highly experienced strategic and operational human resources professional who has managed every aspect of human resources. Meredith’s workforce background has been gained in both the public and private sectors throughout Australia and is well respected by her NSW Health peers.
In the past 13 years Meredith has specialised in the health sector and since 2010 she has managed the portfolio focusing on Work Health, Safety and Wellbeing functions for Murrumbidgee Local Health District. Meredith has turned around the safety and wellbeing performance of MLHD taking a proactive approach where prevention is better than cure and where the philosophy is based on positive health and wellness and the safety motto is No Harm to Anyone: Anytime @ MLHD.
Chief Executive Officer, ACON
Nicolas Parkhill has over 20 years' experience in the public, private and community health sectors. For the last seven years he has been the CEO of ACON (formerly the AIDS Council of NSW), NSW’s leading health promotion organisation specialising in HIV and LGBTI health.
Prior to this Nicolas worked in a variety of senior management and policy development roles for NSW Health and the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, as well as in the healthcare division of Edelman Public Relations. Nicolas is a former board member of both ACON and the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations (AFAO) and currently sits on the board of the Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health (APCOM).
Chief Superintendent, NSW Ambulance Service
Chief Superintendent Paul Tonge is the Manager of the NSW Ambulance Sustainable Access and Patient Flow unit. Paul joined NSW Ambulance in 1986 following the completion of his registered nurse training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in 1985.
Highlights of Paul’s 30 year career with NSW Ambulance include successfully completing clinical specialist courses including Intensive Care Paramedic and Special Casualty Access Team training; being Station Officer and Inspector in South Sydney and a position as Zone Manager in the Illawarra.
Paul was awarded the Ambulance Service Medal in the Australia Day Honours 2016.
Director of Operational Design, Blacktown and Mount Druitt Hospitals
Peter Rophail is a physiotherapist with over 20 years experience working in public hospitals in Australia and the UK.
From 2012 to 2016 he had a lead role in the multi-award winning Blacktown and Mount Druitt Hospitals Expansion Project.
Peer Support Worker, Sydney Local Health District
Phil Escott works as a peer support worker for the Sydney Local Health District and is on the district committee for the Pathways to Community Living Initiative. He has been a board member of the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association and the Institute of Psychiatry. He is currently an Associate of the University of Tasmania with a number of peer reviewed articles.
He works alongside mental health consumers to instil hope and recovery. Part of his work includes advocacy and care on the Professor Marie Bashir Centre at RPA Hospital. This is his 18th year working for the local district and is always keen to listen to the consumer voice and make a difference.
Medical Unit Manager, Kirketon Road Centre
Dr Phillip Read is a sexual health physician, and Medical Unit Manager at the Kirketon Road Centre in Sydney’s Kings Cross. Kirketon Road Centre is a local health district funded primary health care facility involved in the prevention, treatment and care of HIV and other transmissible infections among at-risk young people, sex workers, and people who inject drugs.
Phillip is currently Chair of the NSW Sexual Health Directors Leadership Group and has been involved in the development of sexual health services to respond to the NSW HIV Strategy.
Head of Cell Signalling Unit, Children's Medical Research Institute and Senior Principal Research Fellow, National Health and Medical Research Council
Professor Phil Robinson is a neurochemist with expertise in protein chemistry, pharmacology and cell biology. He has a PhD in Medical Biochemistry from the University of Newcastle. He studied at the NIH and the pharma company Merrell Dow both in USA and St. Vincent's Institute in Melbourne and the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle. Phil then took up his present position as Head of Cell Signalling Unit at the Children's Medical Research Institute in Sydney in 1996, and holds a Senior Principal Research Fellowship from the National Health and Medical Research Council.
Phil's research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms of synaptic transmission in the nervous system and identify similarities in signalling during mitosis. With Adam McCluskey they have created a pharmacology around endocytosis, and are translating this research to develop new drugs for the brain and cancer. With Roger Reddel they have recently launched ProCan, an international Centre designed to capture and share the proteome of 70,000 human tumours of all types. The outcomes will be to accelerate cancer diagnosis and provide new treatment options.
Health Information Manager, Central Coast Local Health District
Renee is a qualified Health Information Manager who has obtained a Bachelor of Applied Science in Health Information Management from Sydney University, with 20 years’ experience in public health. Renee began her career working at the Royal Rehabilitation Centre and has since worked for South Eastern Sydney, Northern Sydney, and Central Coast Local Health Districts and a secondment opportunity with the ABF Taskforce at the Ministry of Health.
Renee has a Graduate Certificate in Health Services Management Sydney University, an ACI Diploma in Project Management, has completed the Lean Six Sigma Green belt course and has just completed an MBA in Health UTAS. Renee was a NSW Health Baxter Award recipient in 2006.
Nursing Unit Manager, Liverpool Hospital
Robert Bavcevic is the Nursing Unit Manager of 3E Cardiology ward of Liverpool Hospital and has been since 2013. During this period he has also facilitated the South Western Sydney Local Health District's (SWSLHD) Transformational Leadership School and acted as facilitator for the Essentials of Care Program in other wards at Liverpool Hospital.
From 2008 till 2012 he held the position of Essentials of Care Program Leader at SWSLHD. Robert holds a Masters in Clinical Leadership and Clinical Supervision.
Child Protection Services, Northern NSW Local Health District
Rosemaria Flaherty manages child protection services for the Northern NSW Local Health District, and is a part-time PhD student with the Australian Centre for Child Protection. Rosemaria’s PhD research examines the role of the unborn child high risk birth alert in connecting at-risk pregnant women to health and social care.
As a senior psychologist Rosemaria has spent the majority of her clinical career working with and advocating for marginalised populations. Rosemaria also volunteers her time in Cambodia assisting organisations to further-develop their child protection policies.
Director of Pharmacy, Concord Repatriation General Hospital
Rosemary Burke is the Director of Pharmacy at Concord Repatriation General Hospital in Sydney. This was the NSW pilot site for electronic medication management (eMeds), with a proof of concept trial commenced in aged care and rehabilitation in 2007, mental health in 2014 and the whole of the hospital in 2016.
Rosemary has been involved in a number of studies about prescribing and administration errors in an electronic environment. She chairs has the Committee of Specialty Practice in Medication Safety for SHPA since its inception in 2001. Rosemary was awarded the 2007 SHPA Medal of Merit primarily for her work in medication safety. She also sits on a number of expert advisory committees and was the recipient of the hospital’s “Pride of Concord” award in 2015. Rosemary’s major professional interests include quality use of medicines, medication safety and embedding these principles in the introduction of new technologies such as eMeds.
Nurse Manager for Inpatient Services, Mental Health Drug & Alcohol, Southern NSW Local Health District
Rose Roberts is a registered nurse with extensive management and clinical experience working in both general and mental health nursing care environments over several decades. This experience has been gained in both public tertiary and district level hospitals in both metropolitan and rural settings.
For the past eight years, Rose has been the Nurse Manager for Inpatient Services, Mental Health Drug & Alcohol, Southern NSW Local Health District. This role has responsibility for the two acute inpatient units at Goulburn and Bega, T-Basis Unit (dementia) Goulburn, psychogeriatric unit Goulburn and rehabilitation unit at Goulburn. For six of these years the role also included the Triage and Emergency Care Service at Goulburn and Bega.
Senior Medical Physics Specialist, Liverpool and Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre
Dr Sankar Arumugam is a Senior Medical Physics Specialist at Liverpool and Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre and has more than 10 years’ clinical experience.
Dr Arumugam’s research interests broadly cover the robustness analysis of advanced radiotherapy techniques for their efficient clinical utilisation and development of novel real-time position monitoring systems for accurate treatment delivery.
Chief Executive, Western NSW Local Health District
Scott McLachlan commenced as Chief Executive, Western NSW Local Health Distict in January 2013. Scott has held leadership roles in health in both private and public health systems spanning across two decades. He has a keen focus on delivering high quality, responsible and sustainable services to rural people. Scott is passionately motivated to head up improving health outcomes for rural people through authentic community engagement, strong collaboration with clinicians, strategic partnerships and fostering and leading innovation.
The challenges in closing the gap in health outcomes for Aboriginal people in Western NSW through developing respectful partnerships may well be our greatest challenge, one which Scott is committed to leading and making a real difference.
Deputy Secretary, System Purchasing and Performance Division, Ministry of Health
Susan has held a number of senior management and operational positions within the NSW public health system and in November 2015 she was appointed to the role of Deputy Secretary, System Purchasing and Performance Division at the Ministry of Health. Susan is responsible for the front end of “system management” across the public health system in NSW and is dedicated to working collaboratively with health professionals and administrators. Susan is the interface between the Ministry, local health districts, specialty health networks, the pillars and other health organisations to support and monitor overall system performance in NSW.
Susan commenced her career in nursing in various clinical settings across rural, remote and metropolitan areas in NSW. Susan has vast experience as a nurse manager and as clinical nurse specialist in intensive and coronary care. In August 2012, Susan was appointed to the position of Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer at the Ministry of Health. Prior to this appointment, Susan was the Director Operations at Northern Sydney Local Health District where she managed large portfolios including: acute health services, mental health, public health and health promotion, workforce, clinical training and education and Aboriginal health.
Chief Executive, Sydney Local Health District
Dr Teresa Anderson, Chief Executive of the Sydney Local Health District with over 30 years’ experience as a clinician and manager in the public health system. Her roles included General Manager, Liverpool Hospital and Director, Clinical Operations, Former Sydney South West Area Health Service.
Teresa has a Bachelor of Applied Science (Speech Pathology), and a PhD in Linguistics on the Early Identification and Treatment of Communication Disorders in Infancy. Dr Anderson is also currently Chair of the Sydney Research Council, a partnership between the University of Sydney, Sydney Local Health District and the Medical Research Institutes.
Chief Executive of North Coast Primary Health Network
Vahid Saberi has had a long career in strategic development, planning and population health. Prior to his current role as the Chief Executive of North Coast Primary Health Network, Vahid was the General Manager of Richmond Clarence Health Service Group, where he was responsible for the management of 10 hospitals including Lismore Base, Ballina, Grafton, Casino and Maclean Hospitals and a range of community and allied health services. Prior to this, Vahid, was in charge of Area Health clinical operations on the North Coast, overseeing the management of 22 hospitals, community and allied health services and a range ancillary and satellite services.
As the Executive Director of Population Health, Planning and Performance, in addition to health promotion, public health, planning, Aboriginal health, telemedicine and community engagement, Vahid managed capital works which involved major infrastructure development projects (hospitals, community health centres and other facilities). Additionally, Vahid is extensively involved in education and research and is currently an Adjunct Professor at the School of Health & Human Science, Southern Cross University and a Senior Research Fellow, Sydney University. Vahid’s post graduate qualifications are Doctorate in Business Administration, Masters in Business Administration and Masters in Public Health.
Chief Executive, Northern NSW Local Health District
Wayne Jones started in health over 30 years ago undertaking his generalist nursing training. For the next 10 years Wayne obtained multiple post graduate nursing qualifications in areas including intensive care and cardiology and he has also obtained graduate qualification in health management. Wayne then progressed into a variety of nursing management roles and eventually came up to the Northern Rivers as the Executive Officer of Lismore Base Hospital.
Prior to his appointment as Chief Executive, Wayne has held a variety of roles in the North Coast including Manager of Planning, Director of Clinical Streams and most recently Chief of Staff.
Chief Executive and Chief Information Officer, eHealth NSW
During a 25-year career in health, Dr Bolevich has held a range of health management and ICT leadership roles in Australia and New Zealand. Since joining eHealth NSW in 2015, he has focused on developing the eHealth Strategy for NSW Health: 2016-2026 and progressing eHealth's key programs and activities.
Dr Bolevich holds a medical degree, a Masters of Business Administration and is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators.
