Power 100: Top NSW health officials open up on the COVID-19 battle

Ahead of The Daily Telegraph’s Power 100, the three women who steered NSW Health through the COVID-19 pandemic tell how they kept each other going in the darkest times.

There were days in the pandemic where the stakes were so high, the work so hard and energy so depleted that the three most powerful health officials in NSW would quietly exchange simple love heart emojis via SMS to keep each other going as they managed the unfolding crisis.

Other days, they turned to black humour, and on some it was the ability to “crack 18 words” when they finally got home at night to their families that signalled things in pandemic world were on the improve.

NSW got to know chief health officer Kerry Chant very well, turning to her day in, day out for answers.

(L-R) Elizabeth Koff, Secretary of New South Wales Health, Dr Kerry Chant, NSW chief health officer, and Susan Pearce, deputy secretary, patient experience and system performance. Picture: Justin Lloyd

But what is not publicly known is that quietly squirrelled away in NSW Health’s St Leonards headquarters was a “power trio” of women who are now internally credited with saving us from this pandemic.

Dr Chant worked day and night, with no days off for months on end, alongside NSW Health secretary Elizabeth Koff and deputy secretary Susan Pearce to manage COVID with a painstaking hands on approach.

The trio of heath bosses will be a high placed entry in The Daily Telegraph Power 100 when the rankings are revealed this week.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard – who at times set up shop by their side in the same office – praises the women as heroes of the pandemic.

Kerry Chant, NSW chief health officer, had no days off for months. Picture: Justin Lloyd

While chief health officer Dr Chant was the front woman, Ms Pearce took charge of operations – hotel quarantine, border management and ICU beds.

Their leader Ms Koff has run the NSW health department – which has a budget of $30 billion – since May 2016.

Through the gruelling pandemic months, the women have made enormous personal sacrifice, but were always conscious that they believed others in the community were doing it tougher.

In an interview for the Power 100, Dr Chant warned it would be a mistake to think the vaccine rollout would make things easier this year, noting 2021 could be “more challenging” than 2020.

The three would share text messages of support during the stressful crisis. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

“This is going to be really two years of protracted – I don’t mean to be depressing to your readers – it’s going to probably take us to October to calibrate again our public health response,” she said.

“Now 2021 we think it’s going to be straight forward because we’ve got a vaccine. It’s actually going to be more challenging as we have to balance up when we open our borders, when we mitigate and be proportionate with our public health measures.”

Ms Koff, Ms Pearce and Dr Chant said NSW was set up strongly to handle the pandemic before anyone realised how bad things would get.

Dr Chant said testing in Australia was higher than most countries from the outset. And, in NSW, the “district” set up of our health system – which means health services are very closely tied to the community – was a strength.

Ms Pearce (R) says at times she wondered if they could keep going. Picture: Justin Lloyd

At the same time, Ms Pearce had an embryonic version of hotel quarantine up and running for people unable to safely isolate before the edict even came from national cabinet.

They cited unpredictability as one of the most difficult elements, saying there were times they just wished they had a textbook to turn to.

“Change and lack of stability mean we have had to forever be responding,” Dr Chant said.

Ms Pearce said the trio would be “lying” if they didn’t admit there were times they wondered if they could keep going.

“But at the end of the day, this might sound clichéd, we feel a depth of responsibility to the community of NSW and beyond.”