20 Health System Executives in South East Queensland
- Jonno White
- 3 days ago
- 7 min read
Why this leadership landscape matters
Health leadership is visible in more than a chief executive title. It appears in the choices that connect clinical care, workforce, technology, research, funding and the patient experience.
South East Queensland is a useful place to see those connections because public health services, specialist children’s care, private hospitals and hospital groups all sit within the same regional picture.
For an event planner, researcher or emerging health leader, the practical value is orientation. Start with the organisation, then match the person’s remit to the question you need to answer.
Public health service leaders
1. Naomi Hebson
Naomi Hebson is Acting Chief Executive at Metro North Health. The role sits at the centre of a large public health service and connects strategic direction with day-to-day management.
Metro North’s executive profile describes her experience in health policy, commissioning and strategic purchasing. That combination gives this list a useful example of the system work behind hospital leadership.
2. Noelle Cridland
Noelle Cridland is Health Service Chief Executive at Metro South Health. Her role covers the strategic direction and operations of a major Hospital and Health Service.
Metro South says she leads more than 21,500 people, manages a yearly budget of more than $4 billion and prioritises health equity. Those details show the scale at which executive decisions affect patients, staff and communities.
3. Ron Calvert
Ron Calvert is Chief Executive of Gold Coast Health. His role connects hospital, community and specialist services across one of South East Queensland’s fastest-growing areas.
Gold Coast Health says he was appointed in 2012 and that the service supports 660,000 people on the Gold Coast and about 240,000 people in Northern New South Wales. That regional reach makes the role more than a single-hospital brief.
4. Hannah Bloch
Hannah Bloch is Health Service Chief Executive at West Moreton Health. Her work sits across a health service serving a growing part of the western Brisbane region.
The executive profile says she has more than 15 years of experience in the Queensland public system and has managed large and complex services. That background is a useful reminder that health leadership is also operations, scale and sustained delivery.
5. Frank Tracey
Frank Tracey is Health Service Chief Executive at Children’s Health Queensland. The role spans specialist children’s care, the workforce that delivers it and the partnerships that support it.
The profile describes more than 40 years of experience in health systems, executive roles across large organisations and a clinical background in nursing. That mix brings a long view of how clinical purpose and system management need to work together.
6. Peter Gillies
Peter Gillies is Health Service Chief Executive at Sunshine Coast Health. His role sits within a region where population growth and service development continue to shape health planning.
The profile says he has been a medical professional for nearly 30 years and spent more than five years as a health service chief executive in Toowoomba before moving to the Sunshine Coast. That experience gives him a strong link between clinical practice and service leadership.
7. Julia Strickland-Bellamy
Julia Strickland-Bellamy is Group Chief Executive Officer at Mater. Her remit spans a not-for-profit health network with public and private services, education, research and foundation work.
Mater says she has more than 20 years of senior executive experience in health and aged care and previously served as CEO of Aurora. That breadth is relevant to anyone studying leadership across a connected health ecosystem.
Private and specialist hospital leaders
8. Oli Steele
Oli Steele is State Queensland Chief Executive Officer at St Vincent’s Private Hospitals. The role brings together hospital leadership across a private network with a strong clinical focus.
The Brisbane leadership page says he leads the Queensland team, whose work supports clinical service delivery, medical innovation and education. That combination shows how hospital executives often work across care, capability and service improvement at once.
9. Justin Greenwell
Justin Greenwell is Chief Executive Officer of Greenslopes Private Hospital. His work brings private hospital operations, clinical partnerships and the patient experience into one leadership brief.
Gallipoli Medical Research says he commenced as CEO in 2023 after Ramsay leadership positions, including CEO of Ramsay’s Sunshine Coast private hospitals. That path gives him experience across both local hospital leadership and a wider private network.
10. Joanne Mitchell
Joanne Mitchell is Chief Executive Officer of John Flynn Private Hospital. The hospital is part of the health landscape serving the Gold Coast and northern New South Wales.
John Flynn describes itself as a tertiary medical facility providing comprehensive medical, surgical and maternity services. That service mix shows why hospital leadership has to hold clinical depth and operational coordination together.
11. Greg Hall
Greg Hall is Chief Executive Officer of Nexus Hospitals. His work sits across a national hospital network and the relationships that support specialists, teams and patients.
Nexus says he brings nearly 30 years of healthcare experience, with a background in nursing and intensive care and expertise in private hospital operations. That practical grounding gives the role a clear connection to both clinical work and system integration.
Operational and clinical leaders
12. Kieran Kinsella
Kieran Kinsella is Acting Chief Operating Officer at Metro South Health. His role connects the health service’s hospitals with community, oral health, addiction and mental health services.
Metro South says he leads executive teams across five hospitals, Community and Oral Health, and Addiction and Mental Health Services. That breadth makes the operating role a useful lens on how different parts of a health system work together.
13. Jamie Spencer
Jamie Spencer is Executive Director of Caboolture and Kilcoy Hospitals. The role sits close to the practical work of running hospital services and improving the way patients move through them.
Caboolture Hospital says he has led statewide reform programs and delivered improvements in emergency care, patient flow, digital health and aged care. Those areas show how operational leadership reaches from the front door to the wider system.
14. Dr Theodore Chamberlain
Dr Theodore Chamberlain is Director of Medical Services for Caboolture and Kilcoy hospitals. His role focuses on professional leadership, medical workforce support and the systems that help clinicians do their work well.
The role includes professional leadership of a medical workforce of approximately 250 doctors and operational oversight of medical education, medical workforce, pharmacy and health information teams. That scope makes medical services leadership a core part of hospital performance.
15. Vanessa Smith
Vanessa Smith is Director Nursing and Midwifery at Caboolture and Kilcoy Hospitals. Her remit places nursing leadership, workforce culture and safe care at the centre of hospital operations.
Metro North says she provides strategic leadership to more than 900 nursing and midwifery staff and returned after 24 years overseas. That scale and experience show why nursing leadership is also a major system leadership function.
16. Ansuyah Padayachee
Ansuyah Padayachee is Director Allied Health at Caboolture and Kilcoy Hospitals. Allied health leadership helps connect hospital care with rehabilitation, community support and the practical needs of patients after treatment.
The profile says she has more than 25 years of experience in the United Kingdom and Australia and leads work across allied health practice, innovation and implementation. That makes her a useful example of leadership beyond the traditional medical and nursing titles.
17. Karlene Willcocks
Karlene Willcocks is Executive Director for Caboolture and Kilcoy Hospitals, Woodford Correctional Facility, and the Caboolture and Bribie Island Satellite Health Centres. Her remit stretches across hospital and community settings.
Her profile describes her as a registered nurse and strategic healthcare leader focused on safe, timely and effective care. That breadth illustrates how executive roles often bring several connected services into one operating picture.
18. Stephen Eaton
Stephen Eaton is Chief Operating Officer at Metro North Health. His remit is focused on the operational systems that turn strategy into services for patients and communities.
Metro North says he previously led operations at Townsville Hospital and Health Service and has experience across public, private and non-government health organisations in Europe and South East Asia. That range gives the role a broad view of how different health settings operate.
19. Gillian Campbell
Gillian Campbell is Executive Director of Princess Alexandra Hospital. The role is close to the daily reality of a major teaching hospital, where clinical care, workforce and operations meet.
Metro South says she has held senior health management roles with Te Whatu Ora in New Zealand, including Group Director of Operations and Interim Chief Executive. That background adds a wider health-system perspective to hospital leadership.
20. Dale Seierup
Dale Seierup is Acting Executive Director of Logan and Beaudesert Health Service. The role brings clinical leadership and the day-to-day operation of a connected health service into the same brief.
Metro South says he is a general practitioner and senior medical administrator, and that his substantive role is Director of Medical Services for Logan and Beaudesert Health Service. That combination shows how clinical and operational leadership can overlap in a health system.
Conclusion
Across this group, three themes stand out: scale, connection and professional depth. Whole health services need system leaders, hospitals need operational leaders, and clinical programs need people who understand the work close to patients and teams.
That mix matters because health organisations do not improve through one title or one project. Progress depends on leaders who can hold the wider system in view while making the next practical decision clear for the people doing the work.
If you are planning a health-sector event or leadership session, the most useful brief will name the audience, the change in front of them and the outcome you want people to carry into Monday morning.
About the Author
Jonno White is the author of Step Up or Step Out and a Certified Working Genius Facilitator. He is Brisbane-based and works with schools, organisations and leadership teams around the world.
Related Reading
For more practical leadership ideas, read How to Build a Company Culture Employees Will Move Cities to Join and 25 Proven Keys to Leading Your Team Through Change.
A practical next step
If you are planning a health-sector leadership event or want help making a leadership team’s work practical, email jonno@consultclarity.org with the audience, the challenge and the outcome you want.