Western NSW LHD team

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Our board

The Western NSW Local Health District board oversees the performance and progress of our services and facilities. Read more about the functions of the board. The board is governed by the Health Services Act By-laws (PDF 809.62KB) and the Western NSW LHD Board Charter (PDF 629.6KB).

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

Mr Matthew Irvine – Chair

Matthew Irvine has 25 years’ experience as a road safety practitioner, working in research, education, and regulation. He has served on a variety of boards across multiple sectors with extensive experience working with public sector stakeholders and regulators. He holds a Graduate Certificate in Commerce and a Bachelor of Business degree. Matthew is a Fellow of both the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australasian Mutuals Institute. He is also a Justice of the Peace in NSW.

Matthew is currently the Chair of Westhaven Ltd, the Western Region Academy of Sport, the AICD Western Region Committee, and the Reliance Bank Community Support Fund. He is also the President of the Western NSW Business Advisory Council, Bathurst Community Transport, and the Australian Emotional Wellness Association.

Mrs Fiona Bennett

Fiona Bennett is a Certified Practising Accountant with over 20 years of large corporate accounting and financial management experience. Fiona is Deputy Chair of the board of Western NSW Local Health District, and Chair of the board of Australian Mutual Bank Ltd. Fiona resides in the Orange area, holds a Bachelor of Business degree and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She currently chairs the LHD’s Finance and Performance Committee.

Mr Jason Cooke

Jason Cooke is the Head of Finance and Facilities at the Catholic Education Diocese of Bathurst. Jason is a Director on the Board of Housing Plus and member of their finance and performance committee. Housing Plus is an organisation that provides social and affordable housing, domestic violence, homelessness and support services in Western NSW.

Jason’s qualifications include Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Fellow Chartered Accountant, Master of Management and Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting). Jason has 28 years of commercial, financial, strategic, regulatory and governance experience across public practice, energy, local government, health, education, social services and sport.

Ms Annette Crothers

Annette Crothers has over 20 years’ experience as a clinical occupational therapist in rural and metropolitan districts and has extensive governance and policy development experience with NSW Health primary health care. She has a strong focus on community, consumer and stakeholder input in service planning and evaluation.

Annette is also Chair, and a founding director of Marathon Health Ltd; a profit-for-purpose organisation delivering high quality health and wellbeing primary health care to rural, regional and remote communities.

Her qualifications include Company Director Foundations – Australian Institute of Company Directors, Master of Education & Work, Grad Cert Management Practice – Australian Institute of Management, Diploma of Applied Science (Occupational Therapy), Cert IV Workplace Assessment.

Ms Sally Davis

Sally was born and raised in Far West NSW, completing her primary education through Broken Hill School of the Air and secondary education in Sydney. For over 30 years she has worked in credit management and administration for various companies. She, along with my husband, owns and runs a mechanical business in Bourke.

Sally has been a Councilor on the Bourke Shire Council since 2004 and served as Deputy Mayor from 2005 to 2006. She is a committee member of the Western Lands Advisory Committee and has been an active member of various community organisations in both executive and committee member roles.

Ms Louise Johnson

Louise Johnson is a stakeholder and community engagement professional from Brewarrina, NSW. Since moving to Western NSW almost 12 years ago, Louise has worked in Local Government in health, community service and corporate roles, including in senior management of a local Council.

For the last four years Louise has worked in the construction sector in a number of communities in the Local Health District.

Prior to living in Western NSW, Louise worked in health promotion, population health and public health in three different states. In her career, Louise has held health roles for all three levels of government in Australia.

Louise is also a part of her family farming operation in Central West NSW and is passionate about rural and regional communities.

Dr Colin McClintock

Dr Colin McClintock has been a full time clinical nephrologist at Dubbo Hospital since 2007. Dr McClintock is a Renal Medicine/General Medicine Staff Specialist, and currently the Clinical Director of Medicine and Director of Physician Education at Dubbo Hospital. He is currently the Chair of the LHD Health Care Quality Committee

Dr McClintock holds qualifications in Bachelor of Science (Hon) Immunology (Edinburgh), Bachelor of Medicine (MBChB – Edinburgh), Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) Nephrology and General Medicine, Assoc Fellow Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (AFRACMA), Masters Health Management (UNSW), and a Masters of Public Health.

Mrs Amanda O'Brien

Amanda O’Brien is a registered nurse, farmer and small business owner with a BA majoring in Indigenous Studies who has lived and worked in rural NSW for over 45 years in a variety of health and community service settings. She has experience in primary care, aged care, community liaison, telehealth and health promotion.

Board meeting minutes

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

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

Our Service Agreement

The Western NSW Local Health District Service Agreement (PDF 1009.14KB) sets out the service and performance expectations for funding and other support provided to Western NSW LHD, to ensure we provide equitable, safe, high-quality and human-centred healthcare services.

Our executive group

Our senior leadership team leads our vision to deliver quality healthcare to Western NSW.

Mark Spittal – Chief Executive

Mark Spittal is the Chief Executive of the Western NSW LHD. The Chief Executive is responsible for the overall leadership and functioning of the Local Health District.  The role reports to the Chairperson of the LHD’s Board and the Secretary of NSW Health.

Mark has held a range of senior executive roles within both the New Zealand and NSW health systems, with over three decades of leadership experience in the sector.  

Mark is passionate about ensuring that the people of Western NSW have access to exceptional healthcare.

Josh Carey – Executive Director Service Delivery

The Service Delivery Directorate is responsible for the operational delivery of patient care services across all the District. Service Delivery works collaboratively with other Directorates to plan, manage and improve how services are delivered through hospitals, health centres and other health facilities.

Josh Carey is the Executive Director Service Delivery.

Adrian Fahy – Executive Director Quality, Clinical Safety and Nursing

The Quality, Clinical Safety and Nursing Directorate has oversight of professional nursing and midwifery services and provides advice on the District’s approach to deliver quality and safe care. The team works to improve our professional approach to the delivery of care, ensures that we engage with patients, fosters clinical practice improvements that bring about changes to quality, works to ensure that our approach and systems deliver reliability and that our care is disciplined and consistent.

Adrian Fahy is the Executive Director Quality, Clinical Safety and Nursing.

Professor Mark Arnold – Chief Medical Officer

The Chief Medical Officer role ensures service-wide medical collaboration across areas including service planning and implementation, stakeholder relationships, people management, learning and development, medical professionalism and research. 

Professor Mark Arnold is the Chief Medical Officer.

Angela Firth – Executive Director Allied Health

The Allied Health Directorate provides professional leadership for the range of allied health professionals offering services across the District, including nutrition and dietetics, occupational therapy and diversional therapy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, psychology, social work and client support services, speech pathology and audiology.

Angela Firth is the Executive Director Allied Health.

Peter Bonnington – Executive Director Finance and Corporate

Peter Bonnington – WNSWLHD Executive Director Finance and Corporate

The Finance and Corporate Directorate is responsible for the oversight of the District’s financial management, including monitoring and reporting of the District’s financial performance. The Directorate also leads all areas of corporate governance, information technology, communications and corporate services, including capital works projects, infrastructure and logistics.

Peter Bonnington is the Executive Director Finance and Corporate.

Sandra Duff – Executive Director People and Culture

The People and Culture Directorate is responsible for education, training and development, employee assistance, human resource management, staff orientation, recruitment and payroll, risk management, workplace culture and workforce strategy and planning.

The Executive Director of People and Culture is Sandra Duff.

Tony Martin – Executive Director Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing

The Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Directorate is made up of two key teams: Aboriginal Health, and Health Promotion. The Aboriginal Health team’s focus is leading the strategic direction of Aboriginal Health in the district and delivering on our commitment to make meaningful gains for more than 30,000 First Nations peoples living in our district.

The Aboriginal Health Unit plays a critical role in also supporting all healthcare workers to improve the health outcomes and healthcare experience of our First Nations peoples who reside in our District.

Tony Martin is the Executive Director Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing.

Maryanne Hawthorn – Executive Director Strategic Reform, Planning and Partnerships

Strategic Reform, Planning and Partnerships offer a range of services to the whole of the District, including data analytics, coding, reporting, evaluation strategic and clinical service planning. The team also is responsible for community engagement, and the LHD Program Management Office.

The Health Intelligence Unit (HIU) is part of the Directorate, providing service leaders across the District with key insights into service activity and performance. The planning team support the development plans to meet the needs of our communities, now and into the future, as well as change management for our large redevelopment projects.

Maryanne Hawthorn is the Executive Director Strategic Reform, Planning and Partnerships.

Kathy Connell – Executive Director Communications

Working as a part of the Chief Executive Unit, the Communications team provide governance and tactical support for a range of communication streams including news and social media, internal communications, and inter- and intranet management.

Kathy Connell is the Executive Director Communications.