THE State Government has chosen to reappoint five members of the North West Hospital and Health Board which it says is “a show of confidence”.
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The five reappointed members are Don Bowley, Christopher Appleby, Karen Arbouin, Kathryn Panaretto and Dallas Leon.
They remain in the board until May 2019 – although for Dr Leon and Dr Panaretto it has been extended another year.
Board chair Paul Woodhouse and board members Anne Clarke, Richard Stevens and Rowena McNally also remain in their roles.
Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Cameron Dick said the board chaired by Mr Woodhouse had shown strong leadership in the delivery of health services across the north west region.
“I congratulate these members and look forward to working with them towards achieving the goal of making Queensland’s health system the best in Australia,” the minister said.
“The fact that so many board members sought reappointment is testament to their dedication to their communities.
“The North West Hospital and Health Board is a diverse group, with five men and four women – all with a range of backgrounds, experience and skills – combining to ensure the broader community is well represented in the health space.”
The reappointments take effect on Thursday.
Mr Woodhouse explained during a recent interview for a profile piece that the North West Hospital and Health board managed the health of the region but were still responsible under the Hospital and Health Board Act 2011.
The benefits of a local health board enabled a management of health issues unique to the north west region that may not be considered in Brisbane based policy. Mr Woodhouse acknowledged this.
“I’ve never been a great fan of the old cliche one size fits all but the cliche of one size fits all really does exist,” Mr Woodhouse said.
“That’s been the driver of many of my activities I suppose, the fact it has to be done differently here, and there are ways we can do it differently.
“I can understand a need to have one set of legislation or one set of rules and all the rest, but sometimes it’s hard to apply in a practical sense in a rural and remote regional setting. For the most part everyone agrees on that so we get certain types of flexibility to do this, that or the other as long as we achieve the policy outcomes the government wants.”
