Chief Health Officer John Gerrard resigns from Qld government role

Chief Health Officer Dr John Gerrard has suddenly resigned from his government position. So what’s next?

Dr John Gerrard has resigned from his role. Picture: Liam Kidston

Chief health officer Dr John Gerrard plans to return to full-time clinical duties following his shock resignation from the government position.

Premier David Crisafulli revealed on Friday that 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.

Dr Gerrard said responding to the coronavirus pandemic from both the frontline and as CHO was the highlight of his career as an esteemed infectious disease expert, but he had no intention of staying on longer than three years.

“It’s been an extraordinary time,” he said.

“We’ve been planning for pandemics for forever, since the beginning on my career.

“Coronavirus was the biggest medical event of the century, so to be able to be involved in it from both sides, the frontline and as the CHO was the peak for me.

“I really have enjoyed it greatly.”

“He’s made a big contribution, and he wants to continue to make a contribution, but now at the front line, we want to thank him for his service,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“We want to thank him for all his contribution during a really difficult time at the state and we really wish him well as he heads back to the front line to do what he has done throughout his lifetime, we certainly wish him all the best.”

Dr John Gerrard will step down after December 12. Picture John Gass

Dr Gerrard advised the Director General at the start of October about his intention not to renew his contract before formally advising the government on October 13.

His final day will be on December 12.

Dr Gerrard was appointed Chief Health Officer for Queensland Health in December 2021, succeeding Jeannette Young who had held the role since 2005.

Who is Dr John Gerrard?

He was the long-term Director of Infectious Diseases at the Gold Coast Hospital, where he was instrumental in the design the Gold Coast University Hospital, which has been at the front line of Queensland’s COVID-19 response.

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. He was awarded the Australian Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal for this work.

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 COVID-19 aboard the Diamond Princess.

Source: Qld Health

Originally published as Chief Health Officer John Gerrard resigns from Qld government role