New board members for healthcare group

West Gippsland Healthcare Group’s recent annual general meeting saw several long serving members retire from the board including Duncan Smith and Peter Marx.

Duncan and Peter have each given more than 20 years service to the board but were ineligible for re-appointment following a new rule that limits board service to a maximum of nine consecutive years.

Christine Holland was appointed chairman of the new look board, which is now a seven member board rather than 11 members.

Joining the board are new members Leanne Williams, Sarah Lukies and Susan Lloyd.

Continuing on the board are Peter Kingwill, Jo-Anne Moorfoot, Beryl Raufer and Christine. Beryl, who joined the board last year, was appointed deputy chair.

During the past year, board directors John Monagle, Sally Stannard, Gaye Britt and Dr David Hillis resigned from the board.

Last year’s chairman Jane Leslie also retired from the board on June 30. She served on the board for six years and was chairman for the past three years.

New chair Christine Holland paid tribute to the previous directors, thanking them for their contributions to the board and West Gippsland Healthcare Group.

She acknowledged the contribution of Duncan and Peter who were both active members over such a long period and played key roles in board sub-committees and working groups.

The board changes have seen a reduction in numbers from a board of 11 directors to a board of seven.

As part of a range of reforms for public hospital boards, the state government committed to remunerating board directors of public hospitals from July 1, 2018.

The Governor in Council set the annual rate for sub-regional public hospital board directors for 2018-19 at $7274 for directors and $12,125 for the board chairman, with all directors entitled to an additional single annual payment of $5578 for participation on one or more board sub-committees or working groups.

The new board members include Leanne Williams who is a chartered accountant and chief executive officer of the West Gippsland Regional Library Corporation.

She has experience working in local government and was previously a board director at Beechworth Health Service. She is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and lives locally with her family.

Susan Lloyd is life time Gippslander and has 20 years board experience across hospital, council and not-for-profit sectors. In her professional career Susan has held several chief executive roles in the health and medical training sectors.

Susan is passionate about supporting WGHG to achieve its vision of providing the best health care for our community and looks forward to supporting the organisation to establishing a green field site for the home of WGHG.

Sarah Lukies is a legal professional with extensive experience in commercial law, litigation and risk management. In addition, Sarah has board level experience in the allied health and not-for-profit sector.

Sarah currently works as legal counsel for the global logistics company, Toll Group and holds a Bachelor of Law/Bachelor of Business from Latrobe University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Melbourne Business School.

Sarah is passionate about strategic program development, good governance and implementing the best and most workable policies for WGHG to provide world class healthcare for the community.