Advisory Board

Steven Boyages
Clinical Professor, Medicine
Westmead Clinical School

Professor Steven Boyages is currently the Foundation Chief Executive of the Clinical Education and Training Institute (CETI) of NSW. Steven was formerly the Chief Executive of the Sydney West Area Health Service (SWAHS) and has professorial appointments to the University of Sydney and the University of Western Sydney.

Professor Steven Boyages is currently the Foundation Chief Executive of the Clinical Education and Training Institute (CETI) of NSW. Steven was formerly the Chief Executive of the Sydney West Area Health Service (SWAHS) and has professorial appointments to the University of Sydney and the University of Western Sydney. CETI was established as one of the four pillars to reform health as part of the recommendations of the Garling inquiry into acute care services.

In the former role as CE of SWAHS employs over 15,000 staff, covers a population of 1.2 million people and has a gross operating budget of $2.0 billion and manages $ 1.6 billion worth of assets. The Area extended from Auburn to Lithgow local government authorities approximately the size of Holland. He was appointed CEO of the former Western Sydney AHS in 2002. The AHS was broken into two local health networks at the end of 2010 as part of the National Health Reform agenda.

Steven is a unique hybrid of clinician manager who continues to work in the clinical field of endocrinology. He was previously the Director of Diabetes and Endocrinology at Westmead Hospital from 1990 to 1999. In that role his major achievements were to define the pathophysiology of thyroid hormone deficiency on brain development secondary to iodine deficiency; to develop prevention strategies in iodine deficient communities in China, India, Indonesia and Northern Italy; to define the impact of Growth Hormone excess and deficiency in adults and to develop innovative population health models of care for people with diabetes. Steven continues an active research career in a range of domains, but mostly in the pursuit of better models of chronic disease prevention and management.

Steven previously was the foundation director of the Centre for Research and Clinical Policy in NSW Health in 1999. During that time he established the Priority Health Programs funded to the tune of $15 million per annum; doubled the Research Infrastructure Grants Program; established the Quality Branch of NSW Health and was appointed as Clinical Advisor to the Director General to implement the Government Action Plan for Health Reform. Steven was also instrumental in establishing and securing funding for the State's biotechnology strategy BioFirst, a $150 million investment. Steven's current interests are varied and include the application of health technology to health care delivery, in particular the development of IT applications that add value to the enterprise, to the community and to the patient. Steven's teams have developed sophisticated web based business information tools that allow real time enterprise monitoring. In addition, Steven has pioneered innovative models of organizational design, and re-engineered clinical models of care. Most importantly his chief interest is providing the best possible care to patients, their careers and to the communities he serves.

Peggy Brown
Chief Executive
ACT Health

Dr Brown is currently the Chief Executive, ACT Health. She is also a Member of the Health Workforce Australia Board and on the board of NEHTA. Peggy trained in Medicine and specialised in Psychiatry, and has significant clinical and administrative experience, having worked both within Australia and internationally. She has provided leadership in national mental health policy development and implementation over the past decade, including chairing the committee that oversees key national mental health safety and quality initiatives. From 2007 – 2009, she led a national project to reduce, and where possible, eliminate the use of seclusion and restraint in mental health services across Australia. Peggy is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Australian National University, a surveyor with Australian Council of Healthcare Standards and a former state winner of the Queensland Telstra Business Woman of the Year award.

Katie Wood
Australasia Healthcare Business Leader
Arup

Katie is the Australasia Health Lead for Arup, responsible for bringing together Arup's technical, people and process consulting skills and utilising our global network to apply international best practice for the benefit of clients.

Katie's experience includes:

• Planning and implementation of health facility developments;
• Public Private Partnerships (PPP) procurement;
• Management of major change programs at both strategic and local levels; and,
• Organisational change covering people, processes and IT systems.

For the last three years, Katie has led Arup's role as project management advisor to South Australia Health for the new $1.7 billion, 800 bed new Royal Adelaide Hospital using a PPP procurement model. Prior to relocating to Australia from the UK in 2008, Katie worked to develop Arup's multi-disciplinary consultancy service in the health sector. Her project work included: PPP hospitals and national programs, strategic health planning and the delivery of health facilities.