New chief executive named for agency rolling out digital hospital system

Seven months after the shock resignation of e-health Queensland’s chief executive Richard Ashby, a permanent replacement has been named.

Retiring Queensland Health Director-General Michael Walsh. Picture: Megan Slade/AAP

QUEENSLAND Health has announced a new chief executive to lead the agency responsible for the state’s controversial digital hospital system.

Retiring QH director-general Michael Walsh today named Damian Green, part of the executive team at the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service, as the new leader of e-health Queensland, which is responsible for the state’s integrated electronic medical record system.

The organisation has not had a permanent chief executive since January when Richard Ashby sensationally resigned from his $615,000-a-role amid a Crime and Corruption Commission investigation into e-health Queensland.

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At the time, Mr Walsh referred to allegations of an undeclared conflict of interest, which The Courier-Mail understands regarded an alleged relationship between Dr Ashby and a woman who was on an evaluation team for the replacement of the department’s Patient Administration System.

Attempts have been made to contact Dr Ashby for a response.

Dr Richard Ashby.

Since then, Bruce Linaker, who was e-health Queensland’s chief solutions delivery officer, has acted in the organisation’s chief executive role.

In an announcement to QH staff today, Mr Walsh thanked Mr Linaker for leading the organisation for the past seven months.

“Stepping into a leadership position at short notice is never easy, and having someone with existing knowledge of e-health at the executive level has made this transition much easier for us all,” Mr Walsh said.

Mr Green comes to e-health Queensland after almost seven years at the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service, where he was executive director, digital transformation and chief information officer.

“Damian has been pivotal in driving continuous improvement in health service delivery and quality, which lies at the heart of everything we do in our health system,” Mr Walsh told staff in his email.

“Damian will no doubt bring this rich experience and forward thinking to his role leading e-health, as the agency continues to move through a period of transformation with the rollout of the digital hospital.”

In December, an Auditor-General’s report exposed a blowout of more than $250 million to complete the digital hospital program — an increase of 42 per cent.

The report said the state’s digital hospital system was delivering benefits. But it highlighted concerns Queensland Health had not negotiated with Cerner, the US technology firm responsible for the digital hospital system software, to obtain the best price when the contract was extended in 2017.

No findings have been announced by the CCC.

Comment was sought from the CCC about whether its investigation into e-health Queensland is ongoing.

Editor's Note: Following publication of this article, the CCC confirmed that its investigation of Dr Ashby had concluded with no sufficient grounds for a criminal prosecution have been found. See full report here.