Board
Board Chair
Dr Neale Fong
Dr Neale Fong is a registered medical practitioner with over 35 years’ experience in a wide range of leadership roles in the private and public hospital systems.
He is currently Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Bethesda Health Care, a Director of several health companies, President of the Australasian College of Health Service Management, and Chair of the International Hospital Federation Global Healthcare Management Special Interest Group. Dr Fong has been the Director General of the WA Department of Health, CEO of St John of God Hospital Subiaco and Director of the Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute at Curtin University. He was Project Lead to the Australian Health Ministers Council in developing Australia’s first Health Leadership Development Capability Framework.
Dr Fong was the Chairman and Commissioner of the WA Football Commission for 12 years and was Chaplain to the West Coast Eagles Football Club for 22 years.
He has Bachelor degree in Medicine and Surgery, a Masters of Theological Studies and a Masters of Business Administration.
Dr Fong was awarded the Gold Medal of Australasian College of Health Service Management in 2019, named a finalist in the 2010 WA Citizen of the Year Awards and awarded a Centenary Medal in 2011 for services to healthcare by the Australian Government.
Deputy Board Chair
Ms Wendy Newman
Wendy Newman has extensive experience in individual, organisational and regional development. In addition to her role as Deputy Chair of the WA Country Health Service Board, Wendy is Deputy Chair of Regional Early Education and Development (REED) Inc. and on the Board of Regional Development Australia – Wheatbelt.
Wendy has extensive experience as an executive and non-executive director working at all levels of government and across industry sectors to develop strategy, drive reform and deliver initiatives that result in improved economic and social outcomes for regional communities.
Such initiatives include driving collaboration across local government boundaries and key government agencies on priority development issues, assisting in the development and delivery of sustainable childcare services and developing and delivering innovative models for aged care in regional settings.
Wendy has a Masters of Commerce (Management), a Bachelor of Education and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Wendy chairs the WA Country Health Service Board Finance Committee.
Board members
Mr Paul Fitzpatrick
Paul Fitzpatrick was a partner of Clayton Utz between 1 July 1985 and 30 September 2019 and practised in the areas of commercial litigation, competition law, national competition policy, international and domestic arbitration and sports law.
Paul is a former Partner in Charge of the Perth Office of Clayton Utz, and has conducted a wide range of complex litigation, including contractual disputes and cases relating to the Competition and Consumer Act, the corporations law, professional negligence, and intellectual property.
Paul was named Competition Lawyer of the Year, Perth in 2013 by Best Lawyers Australia, and has been named by Best Lawyers as one of Australia's best lawyers in litigation, competition and alternative dispute resolution.
Paul was a legal advisor to the Western Australian Football Commission and the West Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS), is a former Director of WAIS, current Director of the Wally Foreman Foundation Inc. and is the Chairman of the West Coast Eagles Football Club.
Paul chairs the WA Country Health Service Board Audit and Risk Committee.
Mr Colin Holt
Colin has expertise and knowledge of regional communities, gained particularly from his long experience as a regional Parliamentarian. He was a Member for the South West Region in the Legislative Council, Parliament of Western Australia from 2009 to 2021 including Minister for Housing; Racing and Gaming and various Parliamentary Secretary roles.
Prior to entering Parliament, he was a foundation partner of a community development organisation ARID, and has held various professional and technical roles in the Department of Agriculture WA.
Colin is a board member of Racing and Wagering Western Australia and Deputy Chair of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Board of WA. He is also the Western Australian representative for Racing Australia.
He holds a Bachelor of Science and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Mrs Shaneane Weldon
Mrs Weldon is a local Aboriginal woman (Wangkatja/Ngaantjarra) who resides in Kalgoorlie.
For nearly 20 years Mrs Weldon was the Coordinator of the Aboriginal Movement for Outback Survival Aboriginal Corporation, which provided her with a firm grounding in the management of a remote Aboriginal community and experience in working with community members with housing, social, economic and employment issues.
Mrs Weldon has extensive board and volunteer experience within her community. She is a long-standing Councillor of the Laverton Shire Council and a Traditional Owner with the Yilka Talintji Determination area.
Mrs Weldon holds a Diploma of Education Rural and Remote, Curtin University, 2018; Certificate III and IV – Social Housing, Curtin University, 2007-2009; and a Bachelor of Applied Science, Aboriginal Community Management and Development, Curtin University, 1996. She has been a Justice of the Peace since 1997. Her interests include Wangkatja Language preservation, family heritage and reading.
Dr Peter Campbell
Mr Peter Campbell is recently retired as a self-employed orthopaedic surgeon. He held the position of Head of the Orthopaedic Department at St John of God Hospital, Subiaco from 2007 to 2022 and has held member and Chair roles on the Medical Advisory Committee and Scope of Practice Committee at the St John of God Health Care Group from 2003 to 2022. Mr Campbell is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons and a Fellow of the Australian Orthopaedic Association.
Mr Peter Campbell holds a Bachelor of Medicine / Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, Hons. 1st Class), University of Queensland.
Peter chairs the WA Country Health Service Board Safety and Quality Committee.
Dr Catherine Stoddart
Catherine commenced as the Chief Executive Officer of Brightwater Care Group in April 2022.
Prior to this Catherine has been Deputy Director General, Department of Communities in WA and Chief Executive Officer, Northern Territory Health 2017-2021. Catherine was the Chief Nurse and Deputy Chief Executive of Oxford University Hospital’s NHS Foundation Trust. Within Western Australia she has been the Chief Nurse for WA. She has held and several executive and Board Director Roles such as OUH Foundation Trust and Menzies Health Research Centre.
Catherine was awarded the 2011 Telstra Western Australia Businesswoman of the Year and in 2013 received the Australian Public Service Medal for her contribution to healthcare. She is a Nuffield and Churchill Fellow, of the Australasian College of Health Service Managers.
Mrs Jodi Johnston
Mrs Jodi Johnston resides in Manjimup and has extensive knowledge of the community serviced by WACHS. She runs a small mixed-enterprise farm with her husband and sons along with an Electrical Contracting business. She holds several roles in sporting clubs in her local community. Mrs Johnston was a physiotherapist in the public health system from 1998-2001, self-employed physiotherapist from 2001 to 2016 working in private practice and aged care, and is a registered health professional, not currently practising.
Mrs Johnston is currently the Chair of District Health Advisory Council in the Warren Health Service along with holding consumer representative roles in the regional public health systems. She is passionate about continual improvement of rural health services and facilities, access to health services closer to home and sustaining a workforce to optimise health outcomes of consumers in regional areas.
She was awarded Community Citizen of the Year for the Shire of Manjimup in the 2023 Australia Day Awards.
Mrs Jodi Johnston holds a Bachelor of Science (Physiotherapy), Curtin University of Technology.
Dr Lorraine Anderson
Dr Anderson is descended from the Palawa people of Tasmania and has worked in Aboriginal health and rural areas in Australia since 2009, predominately in the Pilbara. She previously held medical roles in New Zealand from 1995.
As the current Medical Director at Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services in Broome, Dr Anderson oversees the clinical services team’s remote clinics; Broome based clinical teams; and research. She also provides GP services directly to patients.
She gained her primary degree in Medicine and Public Health at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, followed by post graduate qualifications in Child Health, Palliative Medicine and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Sector General Practice. She is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practice.
Jarrad Gardner
Jarrad Gardner is the Acting Chief Executive Officer for the Great Southern Development Commission (GSDC) and is based in Albany, Western Australia. He is also an ex officio member of the GSDC Board.
Jarrad has extensive State Government experience across the energy, water, housing, forest, and land development sectors. He is also a member of Regional Development Australia Great Southern, Great Southern Academy of Sport and Great Southern Wine Producers Association.
Past roles include membership of the Mental Health Commission’s Risk and Audit Committee and various roles at the WA Treasury, developing financial, governance and policy advice and implementing major initiatives, policies, and industry sector reforms for the Western Australian Government.
Board communiques
View the highlights, key discussions and considerations from our Board meetings.