2023 Leadership 2040 Conference

This years’ Our Healthcare Future – Leadership 2040 Conference will take place at the Hobart Grand Chancellor on 3 November 2023. There will be 140 places for health professionals from across the private, public and tertiary health sectors to attend. 

Keynote Speaker - Dr Polly McGee

Trauma Therapist - Leadership Designer + Facilitator - Author + Podcaster

The Value of Psychological Safety: The Neurobiology of Authenticity & Leadership from all parts of the Health System

View Polly's Keynote

Dr Polly McGee is an author, trauma trained leadership consultant and somatic psychotherapist with a diverse background. From leading fast growth start-ups and excelling in innovation to guiding digital strategies as "Doctor Digital," they bring a unique perspective to the table and stage.

As a skilled facilitator and coach, Polly empowers individuals and teams through leadership design and organisational culture expertise. One of an elite group trained by Dr Brene Brown to facilitate her Dare to Lead™ program, Polly’s work with leaders across Australia showcases their dedication to authentic leadership, fostering empathy and vulnerability.

Polly is a trauma-informed somatic therapist, helping others heal and connect with themselves. With unwavering passion and compassion, they continue to inspire positive change, proving that embracing life's multifaceted experiences can lead to a purposeful and fulfilling journey. Their person-centred trauma podcast Polly’s Vague Theories can be found where all good pods are streamed.

Speakers

Welcome to Country

Alison Overeem - Manager, Leprena Uniting Aboriginal Islander Christian Congress, lutruwita/Tasmania

Alison Overeem is a proud palawa woman from South-East Tasmania who is driven by culture, family, empowerment and creating safe spaces to build hope and dignity.

Alison is passionate about raising awareness of Aboriginal culture and history and the rights of women in society. As a result, Alison has been a member of the Tasmanian Women’s Council since 2015.

While working in aged care at the age of 16, Alison studied for a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) and graduated in 1989.

Alison established the Aboriginal Children’s Centre at West Moonah in 1989. As Director of the Aboriginal Children’s Centre from 1989 to 2013, she helped design a state-of-the-art, award-winning, culturally inclusive children’s centre at Risdon Cove. Alison believes she was fortunate to be at the forefront of developing a multifunctional Aboriginal service, the first of its kind in Tasmania. It was, in fact, a precursor to the Child and Family Centres rolled out across Tasmania in recent years.

In 2013, Alison was appointed as the Leprena Centre Manager, Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC Tasmania). Alison has been instrumental in broadening Leprena’s engagement, networking and connections. On an average week, Leprena engages with about 80 young people.

Leprena offers a variety of activities such as children’s programs, family support programs, training and development, and mentoring. Leprena also acts as a conduit for the wider community seeking to connect with Indigenous people, and frequently engages with non-Aboriginal groups to provide ‘Welcome to Country’ experiences. Alison believes these experiences are vital in helping to close the gap between First and Second Peoples.

Alison has made numerous contributions to publications and resources to promote National Aboriginal and Islander Children’s Day and culturally inclusive practice models of service delivery for Aboriginal communities. Alison’s membership of the National Aboriginal and Islander and Childcare Executive enabled her to provide representations on issues impacting children and families in Tasmania.
 

Welcome

Kathrine Morgan-Wicks
Secretary, Department of Health

Commissioner of Ambulance Services, BA(Hons) LLB(Hons) LLM, Barrister and Solicitor (HCA, SupCt VIC), Solicitor (SupCt Qld), Public Service Medal (PSM)

Kathrine’s 25 plus year career as a lawyer and executive has spanned the private and public sectors, including 14 years travelling throughout Australia and overseas with Australia’s corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), with senior executive responsibility for various operational divisions (Enforcement, Consumer Protection, Corporate Services and Registry Operations (Digital Transformation)) across ASIC.

A move to Tasmania brought with it the opportunity to shift from the Commonwealth to the State Service, and in February 2014 she commenced as Deputy Secretary (Budget and Finance) at the Department of Treasury and Finance, one month prior to Tasmania’s first change in State Government for over 16 years. Kathrine led her Treasury Division through the delivery of four State Budgets in just over three years, whilst quickly coming up to speed with the Tasmanian business and community context.

In 2017, Kathrine was appointed as Acting Secretary for the Department of Justice and was confirmed in the role in early 2018. In the role, Kathrine was responsible for overseeing 1400 plus employees across 29 locations, with portfolios spanning the Courts, Corrections, Worksafe Tasmania, Consumer Protection, Planning and Building Regulation and a $340M capital programme.

In September 2019, Kathrine was appointed as Secretary for the Department of Health and is now responsible for the delivery of a $2.6B health service including public hospitals, district health services, Tasmania Ambulance, mental health and public health, encompassing over 16,000 employees and volunteers across Tasmania.

In addition to her legal qualifications, Kathrine has completed graduate courses in business and leadership with the Melbourne Business School and Harvard Leadership Program.

Corporate Governance, financial management and digitally transforming organisations to customer-centric delivery are at the heart of Kathrine’s service-oriented career, culminating in 2020 with her role as State Health Commander for Tasmania during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Establishing Organisational Values – A Department of Health Journey

Michelle Searle
Chief People Officer, Department of Health

Michelle was appointed to the role of Chief People Officer in March 2022. The role provides high level strategic oversight and management of people related reform initiatives across the entire health system, in both health service delivery and corporate areas.

Prior to this appointment, Michelle held a number of senior leadership positions within the Department of Health including Acting Deputy Secretary, Policy, Purchasing, Performance and Reform; Director, Monitoring, Performance and Analysis; Incident Controller, ECC; Acting Director HR (prior to the inclusion of the THS); and Acting General Manager Shared Services. 

Michelle has over 26 years’ experience in the public sector and has also worked in the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management and the Department of Treasury and Finance. Michelle holds a Bachelor of Commerce and has recently reached 20 years as a member of CPA Australia.

A fun fact about Michelle is that she has walked the Camino de Santiago across the top of Spain.

Leadership in a Digital Future

Warren Prentice
Chief Information Officer, Department of Health

Warren Prentice was appointed as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Department of Health, Tasmania, in January 2020. He is responsible for state-wide Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and digital health transformation, supporting clinical, paramedic and corporate services across the state.

Previously, Warren was the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Queensland Health. The CTO carried operational responsibility for the states digital health platforms supporting more than 110,000 health employees across the state of Queensland.

Warren is an accomplished leader of large technical, engineering teams, he has extensive leadership experience operating complex ICT domains in Defence, State Healthcare, Taxation and Foreign Affairs. Further, Warren has served in both the Royal Australian Air Force, the Australian Army and, additionally, he has held prestigious leadership roles in commercial fortune 100 companies including ten years with Microsoft Corporation.

Warren has as a deep understanding of ICT and Digital Health with proven accomplishments in leading cultural and technology change programs, while developing high performing multidisciplinary teams. Academically, Warren possesses a Master of Leadership, he holds numerous technical and engineering qualifications, and more recently he was recognised as one of Australia’s top 10 CIO’s. 

Closing Remarks

Francine Douce
Acting Deputy Secretary, Clinical Quality, Regulation and Accreditation/Chief Nurse and Midwife, Department of Health
Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Tasmania

With around 40 years’ experience as a registered nurse and midwife, Francine is passionate about giving back to the professions as an active member of the Australian College of Nursing (ACN) and a Fellow of the Australian College of Midwives (ACM). 

In 2015, Francine completed the Global Nursing Leadership Institute at ICN, the first Tasmanian alumni for the GNLI.  In October of the following year, 30 years to the day that she graduated as a registered nurse, Francine was appointed as Tasmania’s Chief Nurse and Midwife.

Francine served as member and Chair of the Nursing Board of Tasmania/NMBA (Tas) 2005-2010, member National Council ACM 2015, Chair Australian and New Zealand Council of Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officers 2017-2019, current Chair Florence Nightingale Grants and Awards Committee and in 2021, was appointed for a second term as the International Commissioner for Pathways to Excellence with the American Nurses Credentialing Centre.

Francine has postgraduate qualifications in nursing and midwifery; Graduate Certificate Business (Public Sector Management Program) and in 2021 completed the ANZSOG Executive Fellows Program.

Energy, courage and resilience have been characteristic of her professional leadership in Tasmania, nationally and more recently the international context.

Master of Ceremonies

Dr Ruth Kearon
Acting Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health

Ruth graduated from the University of Tasmania in 1997 and has worked in a broad range of roles in health since that time. Starting in clinical practice as a GP and moving into roles involving health service design and delivery, health workforce planning, specialist medical leadership and clinical governance. Through her various roles in the health system Ruth has retained a passion for promoting long term planning in the healthcare industry and sees primary care as a cornerstone for developing strong and sustainable health care systems.

Ruth is currently working for the Tasmanian Department of Health as the Acting Chief Medical Officer. Previous roles include working as: Director Health Workforce Planning in the Department of Health where she was instrumental to the development of the Department’s Health Workforce 2040 strategy; project director in the Tasmanian Health Service; a specialist advisor for Health Workforce Australia; an advisor to federal and state health ministers and; a GP in Tasmania and rural Western Australia.

The Role of Leaders in Establishing and Maintaining Organisational Culture

Paula Hyland
Chief Executive, Hospitals North West

Paula was appointed to the role of Chief Executive Hospitals – North West in May 2023 after successfully acting in the role since February 2023.

From 2017 to 2022, Paula held the inaugural role as statewide Executive Director of Allied Health where she successfully lead the development of the Paediatric model of care and the development of Tasmanian Pain Strategy. Prior to 2017, Paula was in the inaugural role of Director Allied Health - North West for 11 years. Paula was also conferred the title as Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Health Sciences in 2021. Paula has a Masters of Health Science and two post graduate certificates in Health Services Management.

She has provided dedicated service to the North West region and statewide since moving back to Tasmania in 2004. In 2022, she was a co-recipient of the UTAS College of Health and Medicine and the UTAS Vice Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Adjunct Associate Professor in relation to support for the UTAS Allied Health Expansion and the commencement of the first post graduate Physiotherapy and Speech Pathology Masters programs (July 2022).

Jordan Emery
Chief Executive, Ambulance Tasmania

Jordan is deeply passionate about leading the incredible people of Ambulance Tasmania to deliver world-class care that is compassionate, dignified and of the highest quality. He commenced as Chief Executive of Ambulance Tasmania in June 2023 having held the position of Executive Director of Operations since January 2022. Prior to relocating to Tasmania, Jordan worked in various clinical and leadership roles with NSW Ambulance. In 2016, Jordan took a two-year sabbatical and relocated to New York where he worked for a global mental health non-government organisation, StrongMinds, delivering community mental health services to women in East Africa. The work was deeply inspiring and demonstrated the positive benefits of good mental health on the whole lives of women and their families. Many of these learnings have fuelled Jordan’s ongoing interest and commitment to the wellbeing of the team he is privileged to lead.

Jordan holds a Master of Public Health from University of NSW, a Master of Health Management from the University of NSW and a Bachelor of Clinical Practice (Paramedic) from Charles Sturt University.

Leani Viljoen
Director Operations, College of Health and Medicine
University of Tasmania

Leani initially trained as a Psychologist and followed her passion for business operations to embark on a career as an HR professional and generalist. Leani further supported this passion by obtaining post graduate qualifications in business, business administration and health services management.

Prior to joining the University of Tasmania, Leani worked across public and private healthcare sectors throughout Australia and New Zealand, following her passion for business, particularly supporting high performing teams, in complex environments. Leani built a career as a human resources and organisational development professional with broad experience in supporting hospital commissioning, regional payroll service delivery, and education and research oversight withing healthcare organisations adding to her interest in broader operations.

Leadership through Digital Transformation - Dealing with Adaptive challenges associated with the Digital Health Transformation

Sam Brodribb
Program Manager – Digital Health Transformation Program

Sam Brodribb is a Program Manager focused on delivering the future Digital Health capabilities outlined in the funded $476 million, 10-year Tasmanian Digital Health Transformation Program.

Sam is an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Digital Health, and former Tasmanian Chair of the Tasmanian Committee – known then as the Health Informatics Society of Australia (HISA).

Sam has over 15 years’ experience working in the Digital Health industry with a keen interest for health services being augmented and empowered by technology innovations.

Laura Pyszkowski
Nursing Director - Virtual Care Program
Director, Office of Secretary, Department of Health

Laura has just commenced in the role of Acting Director, Office of Secretary for the Department of Health and has been instrumental in establishing the Virtual Care Program as Nursing Director and was an Incident Controller through the COVID-19 pandemic. Her career in Cancer Nursing has seen her work locally, nationally and overseas in both outpatient and inpatient clinical settings as a clinician, educator and ADON. Laura has completed her Masters in nursing and is passionate about the lead role nurses and midwives play in influencing policy & change.     

Hamish Meldrum
Director and Founder OCHRE Health

Hamish is a co-founding owner of the Ochre Health Group.

Hamish is a New Zealand medical graduate with experience in general practice, emergency medicine and obstetrics. He worked in the Outback town of Bourke in NSW for five years as a GP obstetrician.

Between 2006 and 2019, Hamish served as Ochre Health Group’s Director of Medical Services, focusing on clinical governance, GP research, quality improvement and clinical support for doctors across the Ochre Health Group. Hamish serves as an examiner for the RACGP Fellowship exam.

Hamish’s passion for general practice—rural general practice in particular—shines through in everything he does. His in-depth knowledge and first-hand experience with primary healthcare makes him an invaluable resource for the recruitment teams in both Australia and New Zealand. Hamish continues to make a difference to rural and urban communities through his ongoing clinical work.

“We like that big idea of what GPs can do: they can upskill, they can do additional services. For example, in Queensland we run fracture clinics and support the idea of a bigger scope of general practice where GPs are working at the top of their license.”

Clare Ramsden
Acting Executive Director Allied Health Services, Hospitals South

Dr Clare Ramsden is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Acting Executive Director, Allied Health Services at Hospitals South, and Chair of the Hospitals South Research Council, Tasmanian Health Service. She completed her doctoral studies in Clinical Neuropsychology at La Trobe University, before going on to work in clinical roles in acquired brain injury and rehabilitation services. She has worked as a Consultant in Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation in the United Kingdom along with Scientific and Technical Services in New Zealand.

Clare has ongoing interests in neuropsychology, neurorehabilitation, workforce development and wellbeing. She is a committee member of the Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment (ASSBI) and the Organisation for Psychological Research in Stroke (OPsyRIS). She recently completed her Masters of Leadership (Health & Human Services) at University of Tasmania. She is a Clinical Senior Lecturer with the Tasmanian School of Medicine, University of Tasmania.

Dr Helen Almond
Senior Lecturer – Australian Institute of Health Service Management,
University of Tasmania

Dr Helen Almond is a dynamic healthcare leader with a broad range of knowledge and skills. She is an experienced healthcare practitioner with extensive industry and academic experience in health and care service delivery, and digital health and informatics. Helen's considerable clinical experience as a registered nurse and sick children's nurse laid the foundations for her Master of Science in Clinical Nursing (Nurse Practitioner UK), which informed the successful award of her PhD in Digital Health & Informatics. Helen's research interests include determining the impact of digital health technology on the delivery of person-centred health and care to all vulnerable communities. Most recently, Helen's involvement in national clinical governance (safety and quality), research, education, and opportunities for continuing professional development have widened her focus to health and care providers digital health capability.

Helen is a senior lecturer and researcher at the University of Tasmania's Australian Institute of Health Service Management; holds an adjunct research position at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne; and is an invited member of the Australian Digital Health Agency's clinical governance committee. She is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Digital Health and the vice chair of their Nursing and Midwifery informatics community of practice. Internationally, Helen represents nursing Informatics for Australia at The International Medical Informatics Association.

Catherine Schofield
Executive Director of Nursing, Mental Health and Statewide Services

Catherine Schofield MN, CGNC, has been a nurse for 40 years working largely within mental health and drug and alcohol services. Her current role is that of the Executive Director of Nursing/Director of Services (EDON/DOS) for the Tasmanian Statewide Mental Health Service. She is a passionate and inspirational leader, a practice development facilitator for the International Council of Nurses (ICN) Global Nurse Leadership Institute Program (GNLI) and the International Practice Development Collaborative (IPDC).

Catherine is the Tasmanian practitioner member on the Nursing and Midwifery board of Australia. Previous roles include Chair of the Tasmanian NMBA, clinical advisor to the Tasmanian Minister for Health, Manager of the Wilfred Lopes Centre and Strategic Nurse Coordinator overseeing significant reform to the Tasmanian Mental Health Service. Catherine is also a past recipient of the Florence Nightingale awards and is an alumnus of both the Tasmanian Leaders Program (TLP) and the ICNs GNLI Program. In 2021 Catherine was certified as a Global Nurse Consultant by the ICN.

2023 Program

Friday 3 November 2023 | Hotel Grand Chancellor, nipaluna/Hobart