34 RAY FAIRWEATHER

AS CEO of St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital, Ray Fairweather is responsible for the funding and development of world-class health services for the city and its surrounds.

As the head of the 137-bed, acute care private hospital, he has been the catalyst for a raft of surgical firsts and expanded services made possible through careful management of the not-for-profit facility and registered charity.

Developing strong ties to the region’s business sector to encourage and maintain support, Mr Fairweather has overseen the hospital’s incredible growth, including the construction of a new $6 million mental health unit and the $2.4 million surgical admission centre expansion.

In three years, the hospital increased its surgical capacity by almost 40 per cent, a commendable result which speaks to the advancement of its services through careful management.

Mr Fairweather in 2014 forged a partnership with the publicly-funded Toowoomba Hospital to deliver the highest quality ear, nose and throat surgery in southeast Queensland.

The agreement was the first of its kind in the state and enabled St Andrew’s Hospital to perform state-of-the-art surgery for public patients with throat cancer using its latest robotic assisted surgery.

In the four years since, St Andrew’s Hospital has gone on to deliver a number of surgical firsts in a practical demonstration of the leading status the facility places in the region’s largest employment sector.

It’s an established record of promoting the Toowoomba region as a leading health hub and, in 2017, joined with the heads of the city’s two other hospitals to sign the Health Industry Partnership Memorandum of Understanding in 2017 in partnership with the Toowoomba Regional Council and TSBE.