16 Hospital CEOs and Health Executives in Queensland

Last updated: August 2026

Queensland’s hospital and health services are led by people balancing clinical realities, workforce pressure, community expectations and long-term system change. This list brings together 16 current or acting service heads across Queensland’s public hospital and health service network, plus a companion group of executives who help those services run well.

The people below are not interchangeable. Some have spent most of their careers in clinical care. Others have built experience in operations, policy, finance, digital health, governance or community partnership. That range is part of what makes health leadership work.

The practical question is how these different kinds of expertise connect. In a regional service, access and relationships may be central. In a large metropolitan service, scale and coordination may dominate. In every setting, leaders have to keep the work useful for patients, communities and staff.

The leaders shaping Queensland hospital and health services

The service heads below are listed by health service. Each profile keeps the focus on the work and background publicly associated with the person’s current role.

1. Leena Singh

Chief Executive, Cairns and Hinterland Health Service

Leena Singh is chief executive at Cairns and Hinterland Health Service. The official profile records more than 20 years in senior health roles across New South Wales, Queensland and New Zealand, including Chief Executive, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer positions. Her experience connects strategy, governance and health systems improvement. That mix matters in a regional service, where good leadership has to join long-term direction with the practical work of access, relationships and better outcomes for vulnerable communities.

2. Lisa Blackler

Health Service Chief Executive, Central Queensland Health Service

Lisa Blackler is health service chief executive at Central Queensland Health Service. She brings more than 20 years of senior health experience and a clinical background in nursing and midwifery. Her work across regional, rural and remote settings is a useful reminder that service leadership must be shaped by the communities it serves, not by a single metropolitan template.

3. Anthony West

Chief Executive, Central West Health Service

Anthony West is chief executive at Central West Health Service. His current profile highlights work to improve care close to home in remote Queensland, including reform across mental health, maternity, child health, primary care and general practice. That breadth shows why rural health leadership needs both clinical credibility and the patience to improve connected services.

4. Frank Tracey

Health Service Chief Executive, Children’s Health Queensland

Frank Tracey is health service chief executive at Children’s Health Queensland. His clinical background is in nursing, and his leadership work includes health management, governance, commissioning and population planning. That combination is especially relevant in children’s health, where service quality depends on connecting clinical care, families, workforce and the wider system.

5. Annette Scott

Health Service Chief Executive, Darling Downs Health

Annette Scott is health service chief executive at Darling Downs Health. Her official profile points to telehealth-enabled care, Queensland’s COVID-19 response and vaccination rollout, and innovative models of care. Those examples show how regional leadership can turn practical service improvements into stronger access and system resilience.

6. Ron Calvert

Chief Executive, Gold Coast Health

Ron Calvert is chief executive at Gold Coast Health. Before moving to Australia, he held senior NHS roles in the United Kingdom, including chief executive positions at Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Foundation Trust and Trafford NHS Trust. His long tenure offers a useful view of leadership at scale, where culture, service design, workforce and community expectations all change over time.

7. Sean Birgan

Health Service Chief Executive, Mackay Health Service

Sean Birgan is health service chief executive at Mackay Health Service. The current executive profile records 40 years of nursing experience and more than 20 years in senior leadership and management. His career has included North West Queensland, Logan and the Queensland Health COVID-19 System Response Lead role in 2022. That path links frontline knowledge, regional operations and statewide response work, which is a valuable combination in a public health system.

8. Nick Steele

Chief Executive, Metro North Health

Nick Steele is chief executive at Metro North Health. Before this role, he led major Queensland Health functions including Healthcare Purchasing and System Performance and Clinical Support Queensland. That cross-system experience matters in a large metropolitan service because clinical care, purchasing, support functions and long-term sustainability have to move together.

9. Noelle Cridland

Health Service Chief Executive, Metro South Health

Noelle Cridland is health service chief executive at Metro South Health. She is a registered nurse and midwife with a Master of Nursing Leadership and has worked across clinical, education and leadership roles in Queensland Health. Her current priorities include a strong, resilient workforce and health equity for the Metro South community. That combination connects professional practice with the wider work of leading a complex service.

10. Andrew Quabba

Acting Health Service Chief Executive, North West Health Service

Andrew Quabba is acting health service chief executive at North West Health Service. His background includes clinical, operational and leadership roles across rural and remote Queensland, including Chief Operating Officer, Executive Director of Allied Health and Director of Pharmacy. The current profile also highlights his interest in access, local leadership and the voice of clinicians. Those priorities are particularly important in a dispersed service where distance shapes daily decisions.

11. Anthony Brown

Health Service Chief Executive, South West Health Service

Anthony Brown is health service chief executive at South West Health Service. His experience spans primary healthcare in Queensland, Victoria and the Northern Territory, with a focus on improving access in rural and remote communities. His commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health equity shows why rural executive leadership needs both clinical depth and a strong partnership mindset.

12. Peter Gillies

Health Service Chief Executive, Sunshine Coast Health

Peter Gillies is health service chief executive at Sunshine Coast Health. He has been a medical professional for nearly 30 years and has worked in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom, including more than five years as a health service chief executive in Toowoomba. His experience across medicine, general management and health software gives him a broad view of how services adapt.

13. Rex O’Rourke

Health Service Chief Executive, Torres and Cape Health Service

Rex O’Rourke is health service chief executive at Torres and Cape Health Service. He holds a Juris Doctor and master’s-level qualifications in administrative law and policy, and has worked on rural and remote strategy with Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations. His legal, policy and regional health background adds a valuable perspective on equity, partnership and system stewardship.

14. Peta Bryant

Acting Chief Executive Officer, Townsville Health Service

Peta Bryant is acting chief executive officer at Townsville Health Service. Her work has included Queensland’s share of the National Health Reform Agreement, legislative reform, the Mental Health Levy and the Better Care Together strategy. That policy experience gives her a clear view of how a local health service connects with the wider system around it.

15. Hannah Bloch

Health Service Chief Executive, West Moreton Health

Hannah Bloch is health service chief executive at West Moreton Health. She previously held executive roles at Gold Coast Health for six years and has a background in law and business with a focus on human resources management. That mix is well suited to a fast-growing region where service expansion and workforce leadership have to be considered together.

16. Deborah Carroll

Health Service Chief Executive, Wide Bay Health Service

Deborah Carroll is health service chief executive at Wide Bay Health Service. She began as a nurse in Mackay, moved through emergency nursing and operations leadership, became Chief Executive of Wide Bay Health in 2020 and has led work in infrastructure, clinical governance, quality and the COVID-19 response. Her career shows how clinical, operational and governance experience can compound into steady regional service leadership.

What strong hospital leadership has to hold together

The common thread is not one leadership style. It is the ability to hold several kinds of work together at once: noticing what the community needs, choosing a practical response, bringing people with you and staying with the work long enough for it to become real.

That is why leadership teams need different kinds of contribution. A CEO may carry the direction, while a COO, clinical leader, finance leader, digital leader or First Nations leader makes the direction workable in the daily life of the service. The quality of the system depends on how well those contributions connect.

For a useful framework for thinking about the different types of work inside an executive team, see Working Genius transforms executive teams. The Working Genius implementation guide is a practical next step for teams that want to turn that insight into better meetings, decisions and follow-through.

More Queensland health leaders to know

Here are some of the great leaders who made the list:

@Wesley Shann North West Health, @Christine Mann North West Health, @Sylvie Brdjanovic North West Health, @Sinfree Chirunga North West Health, @Joanne Shaw Gold Coast Health, @Rebecca Nogajski Gold Coast Health, @Ian Moody Gold Coast Health, @Upinder Bhalla Gold Coast Health, @Matthew Lunn Gold Coast Health, @Grant Brown Gold Coast Health, @Domenic Girolamo Gold Coast Health, @Kieran Kinsella Metro South Health, @Adam Lavis Metro South Health, @Stephen Canaris Metro South Health, @Helen Benham Metro South Health, @Susan O’Dwyer Metro South Health, @Kellie Stockton Metro South Health, @Chris Thorburn Metro South Health, @Kaylene Sutherland Metro South Health, @Gillian Campbell Metro South Health, @Dale Seierup Metro South Health, @Greg Nolan Metro South Health, @Adrianne Belchamber Townsville Health, @Amanda Cooms Townsville Health, @Marina Daly Townsville Health, @Louise Hayes Townsville Health, @Danielle Hornsby Townsville Health, @Judy Morton Townsville Health, @Kunwarjit Sangla Townsville Health, @Michelle Warrington Townsville Health, @Alan Fletcher Children’s Health Qld, @Steven McTaggart Children’s Health Qld, @Brendan Hoad Children’s Health Qld, @Adi Gafni Children’s Health Qld

Leadership in health is also culture work. The strongest services make room for candour, shared responsibility and the patience to improve a system without losing sight of the people inside it. If that is the part of leadership you are working on, Why Culture Change Fails is a useful companion read.

Conclusion

The strongest health leadership is both human and operational. It keeps sight of patients and communities while making the systems, workforce and decisions around them more dependable.

These Queensland leaders show different ways to carry that responsibility. Some bring clinical depth. Some bring policy, governance or operational experience. Others connect regional partnerships, workforce development and service improvement.

If you are reviewing your own leadership team, choose one repeated friction point and write down the decision, owner and next action. Clarity begins when the work becomes visible.

Related Reading

For practical ideas on leading expert teams, read Working Genius for Executive Teams, Executive Team Offsites and Leadership Team Development.

A note for health leaders

I help leaders build organisations people would move cities to work at. If your health service needs a clearer way to work together, align a leadership team or turn strategy into practical habits, email jonno@consultclarity.org.

About the Author

Jonno White is a Brisbane-based leadership consultant, keynote speaker and Certified Working Genius Facilitator, and the author of Step Up or Step Out. He works with schools, corporates and nonprofits around the world. To enquire about a keynote, workshop or facilitated leadership session, email jonno@consultclarity.org.