Mackay Hospital and Health Service reveals new board a year after scandal
Almost a year after an entire regional health board was sacked by then Health Minister Yvette D’Ath, a new board is in place with its chair vowing better solutions and communication. Meet the new team.
Mackay
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A newly appointed board chair has promised ‘no surprises’ almost a year after the Mackay Health and Hospital Service board was dismissed by then Health Minister Yvette D’Ath.
The six-member board follows the dismissal of the previous board in November 2022 and takes over from the Mackay HHS administrator Karen Roach.
New Board chair Helen Darch OAM told a crowd gathered at Mackay Base Hospital she had three expectations: no surprises, a focus on solutions, and respectful communication.
“While we are a small board and we’ll be growing in the new year, I think we’ve got five fabulously diverse directors there,” Ms Darch said.
‘Together we can do things that no one else has the courage or the capacity to do.”
Applications for two to three more board members are still being accepted, with interviews to be conducted in November.
The new board follows the appointment of health professional Susan Gannon as chief executive in June.
Health minister Shannon Fentiman said in August she was “pleased Mackay HHS has been able to attract such experienced, knowledgeable and well-respected people to the Board and I know they will make a positive impact”.
Board Chair Helen Darch OAM
Helen Darch received her OAM for services to community health and is an experienced board member in government and not-for-profit sectors.
She comes to Mackay from Brisbane where she worked with the Metro South Health Service board, which she said gave her insight into the “inequities in health”.
“When there was an opportunity to apply for the Mackay board, what really excited me was to come in and bring that broader experience (to) unpack some of the challenges of regional Queensland,” Ms Darch said.
“And advocate for change for our community.”
Ms Darch also serves as a commissioner for the Crime and Corruption Commission Queensland.
Deputy Chair Kerry Maley
Aboriginal woman Kerry Maley is acting as the ED of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and is a qualified social worker.
Ms Maley worked in Dysart for about eight years as a social worker and she and her family now live in Mackay.
She said she had no reservations about working in Mackay’s health system following the former board’s dismissal, and said it was her way of helping “rebuild our hospital”.
She said the role with MHHS board was the “one position I’ve wanted the most in my entire career”.
“It was like Christmas for me when I was notified that I was successful,” Ms Maley said.
Bill Cooper
Bill Cooper is a former lawyer with “deep roots to the heart of Mackay”, according to Ms Darch, and has served as an acting magistrate at Mackay courthouse.
He was named Mackay Citizen of the Year in 2005 and has considerable governance, legal and finance and board experience across a range of organisations and community groups.
“I was born in Mackay and have lived here for over 25 years, had a legal practice (Bill Cooper & Associates),” Mr Cooper said.
“As far as the Board, my role is with the finance committee at Mackay hospital.”
Dr Peter O’Mara
Dr Peter O’Mara is a Wiradjuri man and a GP specialising in Indigenous health whose career even began in Mackay as an intern doctor at Base Hospital.
“I came straight up here to Mackay to do my internship and I’m a GP in several Aboriginal communities,” Dr O’Mara said.
He also works in medical education at the University of Newcastle and is director of the Thurr Indigenous Health Unit.
Dr O’Mara became a Fellow with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) in 2003.
Maude Chapman
Doctor Maude Chapman is the Deputy Head of Nursing and Midwifery at James Cook University and has been a nurse educator for 30 years.
Her doctoral thesis explored leadership of registered nurses in the clinical environment and focused on the use and expectations of leadership for nurses.
“My history with the Base Hospital is I worked here as registered nurse and in theatre for many years,” Professor Chapman said.
“So my connection is there and I look forward to working with the board.”
Dr Luke Lawton
Associate Professor Dr Luke Lawton is a highly respected emergency physician at Townsville University Hospital.
He was also the director of the emergency department at Townsville for about six years and is a Fellow of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (FACEM).
“I’m an active clinician, you’ll find me on the floor late at night,” Dr Lawton said.
“I have a really close connection to the Mackay region, my wife is from Mackay and almost all my family-in-law lives here.”
Dr Lawton said he volunteered to be on the board and was “delighted to be here to have a chance to make a difference”.
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