Wide Bay Hospital Health Service CEO Adrian Pennington terminated

Irreconcilable differences with his own board are believed to be behind the axing of the chief executive of a Queensland hospital and health service.

Chief Executive Officer at Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service Adrian Pennington.

THE chief executive of the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service has been terminated, effective immediately.

A leaked email to staff, obtained by The Courier-Mail, said Adrian Pennington would be replaced by Debbie Carroll until a permanent chief executive could be found.

Ms Carroll is the executive director of the Bundaberg Hospital redevelopment.

Debbie Carroll will take over until the role can be filled permanently.

In the email, the Wide Bay HHS board chair Peta Jamieson said: “The Board requests that you provide her and other members of the executive team your ongoing support and commitment to deliver the best possible health care across the Wide Bay community.”

Mr Pennington was first appointed to the $450,000-a-year job in August, 2012.

But The Courier-Mail understands irreconcilable differences had developed between Mr Pennington and members of the board, including Ms Jamieson, in recent months.

He was recently elected as chair of the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association board, the national peak body for public and not-for-profit hospitals, Primary Health Networks and community and primary healthcare services.

Mr Pennington was expected to fulfil that role in conjunction with his responsibilities for the Wide Bay HHS.

He has about four decades of experience in the healthcare sector, more than half of which has been at executive and senior management levels, both in hospitals and leading national programs within the UK’s National Health Service.

In March 2018, he was named national healthcare CEO of the year as part of the Australian Healthcare Excellence Awards in Sydney.