New leadership team for Australia's private hospitals

Wednesday, 23 November 2022

New leadership team for Australia's private hospitals
Australia's private hospitals have their first all-female leadership team after Christine Gee and Carmel Monaghan
were elected President and Vice-President of the Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA) yesterday.

The women, both well-known to the private hospital sector, were elected unopposed by the new APHA Council at its
first meeting.

Christine Gee has been Acting President since Dr Lachlan Henderson stood down last month, she was the
Association's first female President in her first Presidential term in 2006 and took the reins again in 2016.

Ms Gee is the CEO of Toowong Private hospital, a standalone private psychiatric hospital. She holds a number of
leadership roles advocating for quality and safety in health care, including as a Board member of the Australian
Commission on Safety and Quality and holds a number of committee chairs for the Commission. She also chairs the
Medical Board of Australia's National Special Issues Committee and is a Board member of the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare.

Ms Monaghan is CEO, Ramsay Health Care Australia, the country's largest private hospital group, she has been an
APHA Board member since taking up that role in 2020.

Ms Gee says a leadership team representing both a large group and an independent hospital shows the diversity of
APHA membership and that all voices are at the table.

"APHA represents every type of private hospital in Australia, from day surgeries through to for profit and non-profit
groups. And each is represented on Council, so the issues and views of the whole private hospital sector go into our
representations to governments, our submissions and our public comments."
Ms Gee said the key issue for the whole sector at present is health workforce, but a number of other issues are
always under discussion.

"The health sector is suffering from a significant health workforce shortages and we need to do a lot more to attract
people to Australia to work. Making it easier to gain residency, reducing red tape, these are just a few things
government can do to draw people here.

"In addition, there are elective surgery backlogs private hospitals are assisting public hospitals to manage, various
government reforms like the prostheses list and the ongoing issue of Australians valuing private health care –
marred in recent times by private health insurers massive profits during the COVID-19 pandemic that have not been
returned to members."
Ms Monaghan said the private hospital sector is essential to the balanced healthcare systems Australians relied on.

"This was thrown into stark relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. Australia's health system pulled together, which
was a good thing because the public hospital sector would not have coped with the pandemic without the support of
private hospitals. Private hospitals sent staff into aged care homes to care for elderly residents, staffed vaccination
Level 3 /11 National Circ, Barton ACT 2600. PO Box 4502, Kingston ACT 2604. [T] 02 6273 9000 [F] 02 6273 7000
[E] [W] www.apha.org.au [FB] ValuingPrivateHospitals [Twitter] @priv8hospitals
ABN 82 008 623 809

clinics and cared for patients with COVID-19. Private hospitals were some of the first to manage COVID-19 patients
from cruise ships in Western Australia.

"Australia's private hospitals offer high quality care, with choice of doctor, choice of room and surgery at a date and
time that suits our patients. These options are well sought after, particularly with a public system even more under
strain than usual with significant waiting lists for elective surgery."
APHA CEO Michael Roff welcomed the appointments of the new President and Vice President.

"In Christine and Carmel we have two strong leaders in Australia's private hospital sector. Both have a great deal of
experience across the sector and many years working in private hospitals, in different roles. I look forward to
working with them to continue Australia's health care system world-leading status."

-ENDSMedia contact: Frith Rayner, Director Communications and Marketing, 0413 971 999

Level 3 /11 National Circ, Barton ACT 2600. PO Box 4502, Kingston ACT 2604. [T] 02 6273 9000 [F] 02 6273 7000
[E] [W] www.apha.org.au [FB] ValuingPrivateHospitals [Twitter] @priv8hospitals
ABN 82 008 623 809

Next Media Centre:
23/11/2022 Private hospital activity still below pre-COVID-19 levels

Previous Media Centre:
29/8/2022 Nursing workforce bidding war an extra tax for Victorian private health insurance holders