Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard’s interim replacement revealed
An internal Queensland Health memo, seen by the Courier-Mail, has confirmed the interim replacement for the chief health officer after his resignation.
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A communicable disease expert will fill in as Queensland chief health officer while a permanent replacement is found for Dr John Gerrard.
An internal Queensland Health memo, seen by the Courier-Mail, has confirmed Dr Heidi Carroll will be the acting chief health officer.
Dr Carroll is also the executive director of Queensland Health’s communicable diseases branch.
Dr Rosengren, in his memo to staff, said Dr Carroll brought the “experience of 30 years as a medical professional to her new role” with two of those decades dedicated to public health.
“Dr Carroll is a member of three national health committees dealing with immunisation, biosecurity and communicable diseases,” he said.
Dr Gerrard tendered his resignation on October 13 during caretaker mode in the midst of the state election campaign.
He will return to full time clinical duties. His last day is December 12.
Formal recruitment for the chief health officer role will begin in 2025 Queensland Health confirmed.
Dr Gerrard, in announcing his resignation, said being the chief health officer had been the highlight of his career in infectious diseases but he had no intention of staying longer than three years.
A leading infectious disease specialist, Dr Gerrard identified Australia’s earliest known case of AIDS early in his career.
He has since been involved in malaria vaccine trials and has worked internationally to strengthen pandemic preparedness, including travel to Sierra Leone during the 2014 West African ebola epidemic, where he helped establish Australia’s first Ebola Treatment Centre.
Dr Gerrard managed Queensland’s first cases of COVID-19 and was part of a mission to assist Japanese authorities in containing the outbreak of the virus aboard the Diamond Princess.
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