Murrumbidgee LHD team

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Our board

The Murrumbidgee Local Health District Board oversees the performance and progress of our services and facilities. They develop the Strategic Plan for the District and make sure it is carried out.

Read more about the functions of the board.

Our Board members draw on experience and local knowledge to make important decisions for our community’s health and wellbeing.

Mr Adrian Lindner - Interim Board Chair

Adrian is an accountant and is currently a primary producer who serves on a number of boards and committees. He was the former Head of Campus at Charles Sturt University and has a background in health management. Adrian is passionate about quality safe care in Murrumbidgee.

Ms Elizabeth Dixon

Elizabeth Dixon is a physiotherapist and small business founder, providing local and telehealth clinical services, and is based at a farming enterprise near Carrathool. Elizabeth previously worked at The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, as a Senior Neurological, Trauma and Intensive Care Unit Physiotherapist as well as a researcher and trial project manager.

Ms Dixon has recently completed her MBA with an interest in utilising health innovation and digital technology to improve patient outcomes and is also a member of the Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network Clinical Advisory Council.

Ms Elke Cleverdon

Elke is an experienced non-executive director, with two national board roles and two with NSW regional organisations. These include the health, banking, agriculture/horticulture sectors and a national peak body. Elke is a strategic and results-oriented business professional and leader. She is MBA qualified and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company directors. She has extensive experience across sectors and industries.

Elke's experience as a Fellow CPA and finance executive has been gained over 30 years in small-to-medium enterprises and 16 years in the customer-owned banking sector. Elke is a strong proponent of sustainable agriculture and regional health services and development.

For the past 30 years, Elke has been a partner in a broad acre family farming enterprise in Harden NSW growing cereal crops and running black Angus cattle. She holds NSW state pre-qualification for audit and risk committee membership for NSW agencies, chairs a number of audit and risk committees across industries, and is the board delegate to the MLHD independent Audit and Risk Committee.

Mr John Ireland

John is a solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW, an Accredited Specialist Mediation and Personal Injury and Arbitrator NSW District Court. He is also a Mediator to Workers Compensation Commission. John is interested in equality of care throughout the District.

Ms Cheryl Penrith

Influencer, mentor, connector and coach, Wiradjuri woman Ms Penrith cites her passion for community development and capacity building, cultural empowerment, community health and wellbeing as her motivating force to join the Board. She is looking forward to being involved in decision making and contributing to the revival and reinvigoration of all aspects of cultural practices.

Ms Mary Atkinson

A well-respected community leader, Ms Atkinson is a Wiradjuri woman who brings a wealth of experience in the education field and a keen interest in primary health care and mental health. She was the recipient of the Wagga Wagga NAIDOC community person of the year.

Mr Tony Kolbe

Mr Kolbe has more than 40 years of experience in the health sector including 17 years in senior public health positions within NSW Health.

An experienced international public health consultant, he has previously served as a non-executive board director of the Hume Medicare Local.

Our board publications

Below is a list of our board strategy documents:

Board meeting minutes

You can view minutes of the Murrumbidgee LHD board meetings from the last 3 years.

2023

2022

2021

Our executive team

The senior executive team provides advice to the chief executive on major strategic, quality and safety, corporate and operational matters. They are driven by the following 9 principles:

Commit to excellence.
Measure the important things.
Build a culture around service.
Create and develop leaders.
Focus on employee satisfaction.
Building individual accountability.
Align behaviours with goals and values.
Communicate at all levels.
Reward and recognise success.

A message from our Chief Executive

“I’m Jill Ludford, Chief Executive of Murrumbidgee Local Health District. I am passionate about ensuring that every patient who comes in contact with us has a positive experience that contributes toward their comfort, recovery and wellbeing.
My team of executives drive our pursuit of excellence in ensuring we are a leader in healthcare. We are always striving toward being an employer of choice and a point of pride for all our staff.
I value feedback and most enjoy visiting our sites to meet with staff, patients and our communities to find out about their health experiences and how we can continue to build on and improve our services.”
Jill Ludford - Chief Executive.

Jill Ludford - Chief Executive

Jill was appointed Chief Executive in August 2014. Accountable to the Murrumbidgee LHD Board, Jill is responsible for providing safe, equitable, quality healthcare to the people of Murrumbidgee through strategic leadership and sound governance. Under her management, Murrumbidgee LHD is implementing enhanced operations, performance, innovation, and skills to deliver the best health outcomes for people in our District.

Carla Bailey - Executive Director Operations

Carla is accountable for leading, directing and managing clinical operations of Murrumbidgee LHD, across a broad spectrum of health service delivery settings and corporate functions.

Kevin Lawrence - Director Finance and Performance

Kevin is responsible for the leadership and management of financial services and performance reporting including clinical activity and trends. Kevin also leads procurement and revenue functions.

Rebecca Leon - Director People and Culture

Image Dr Rebecca Leon People and Culture Director

Rebecca is responsible for work health safety and wellbeing, human resources, and industrial relations. Her role includes developing and implementing human resource initiatives that support culture and capability development.

Len Bruce - Executive Director Medical Services

Len is responsible for the implementation of sustainable systems and processes for reviewing and improving the quality of medical services, for effective engagement of medical staff in Murrumbidgee LHD, planning services and delivery and maintenance of a sustainable medical workforce.

Len is also responsible for managing Wagga Wagga Base Hospital.

Christine Stephens - Executive Director Nursing and Midwifery

Christine is accountable for the development, monitoring and reporting of all aspects of professional activities to optimise health outcomes provided by nurses and midwives in Murrumbidgee LHD.

Jill Reyment - Director Clinical Governance

Jill is responsible for managing the Clinical Governance Unit to lead, coordinate and support clinicians and managers in providing clinical excellence and best practice care.

Jacinta Ducat - Chief Information Officer

Jacinta is responsible for all aspects of the Information, Communication and Technology strategy. This includes support for core clinical and corporate systems and applications, the infrastructure surrounding the clinical arena, and supporting clinical pathways from telehealth to radiography.

Emma Field - Interim Director Mental Health

Emma has responsibility for leading, directing and managing implementation of programs relating to key state and national programs and priority areas. These programs include chronic care, child youth and family health, violence prevention and response, Aboriginal health, BreastScreen NSW, population health, oral health, health promotion and the Integrated Care Strategy.

Jen Spain - CAE/CRO Director Governance, Risk and Audit