Board of Management

The Grampians Health board consists of previous members of the previously existing boards of Edenhope and District Memorial Hospital, Stawell Regional Health, Wimmera Health Care Group and Ballarat Health Services.

Bill Brown – Chair Grampians Health

Bill Brown is a proud regional Victorian, having grown up on a dairy farm in the Otways and is currently living in Warrnambool in the south west of the State.

Bill is a seasoned director, executive and advisor with international experience who can confidently combine business insights and legal knowledge to add value in large, complex, regulated enterprises.

Over the last three decades Mr Brown has specialised in risk management and governance with a particular emphasis on regulated industry sectors. He is the owner of Orange Advisory Pty Ltd, operating in Melbourne and Warrnambool, and has had partnership level roles with leading Australian law firms and businesses. He holds a series of other directorships and is a member of the board of South West Healthcare.

Bill is determined to ensure rural communities receive safe, quality healthcare, equal to those in metropolitan areas.

Anthony Schache – Board Member

Anthony is an innovative and outcome driven leader, focused on achieving exceptional results in a range of highly competitive environments that demand continuous improvement. He has a background in financial reporting and budgeting for both small and large accounts and contract and risk management.

He has served on multiple Boards with a focus on improving services, financial restructuring, stability and innovation. Anthony brings a wealth of strategic and business planning to the table. Since 2001 he has bought, restructured and sold a number of businesses, across a wide range of business models and modalities. Considering every business and committee as an opportunity to engage, promote and strengthen each one on an individual basis, has served to further underpin his business expertise.

Anthony values integrity in all personal and professional relationships and has the knowledge and experience to engage and contribute valuably to a Board environment.

Averil Hogan – Board Member

Avril brings a wealth of experience and expertise, especially in the field of marketing research and governance, to the board. She has more than 15 years’ experience in market research consulting, business strategy, international marketing and business ownership. Her expertise covers industries including Agriculture, Education and Government research departments.

Avril was the runner up in the 2014 Rural Women of the Year, as part of this achievement she was able to participate in the Australian Institute of Company Directors course.

Currently Avril is the general manager, at Longerenong Agriculture College. She is very active in her local community and is a founding member of the ‘Foreign Wives Club’, a social group for women who move to rural areas to build connections and enhance the social fabric of the community. Avril has previously been a Board member of the of Wimmera Centre for Participation.

Cora Trevarthen – Board Member

Cora chairs the Australian Institute of Company Director’s Committee in Ballarat and serves on two private company boards in the commercial and residential property sectors. Cora has previously served on boards of business, advocacy, sporting and cultural organisations in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania.

Following her successful tenure as a group agribusiness executive at Webster Limited, Cora has had more than fifteen years’ experience in strategic advisory roles in agriculture and regional development, creative industries, higher education and innovation. A corporate communications and government relations specialist, Cora has contributed to the successful development, funding and execution of major projects involving multiple government, private sector and community stakeholders.

Cora is passionate about ensuring that all Victorians, regardless of location, have equal access to safe, high quality medical and health services where patient care is ‘true north’.

David Anderson – Board Member

David recently retired from Peninsula Health, where he worked as Chief Financial Officer from 2002 to 2018. He retains an active interest in the health sector with short-term roles and is currently a Director of the Royal Eye and Ear Hospital.

At Peninsula Health, David was responsible for all finance and accounting functions, payroll, supply and corporate services, and managing the Finance and Resources Committee and Audit and Risk Committee. He also held portfolio responsibility for risk management.

David has been actively involved in the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), serving as a Board member of the association from 2013 to 2017. He has previously worked with the Department of Health and Human Services, with responsibilities for financial analysis of health services, budgeting and health funding matters. David also has experience in water resources and irrigation, and economic and financial evaluation of projects for international aid agencies.

Heather Pickard – Board Member

Heather is Director of the National Nurse and Midwife Health Service, and a Registered Nurse with postgraduate qualifications in Addiction Studies and Organisational Management; as well as completing the Australian Institute of Company Directors course. Over the past twenty-four years, Heather has worked as a registered nurse in drug treatment and managed the suite of withdrawal services at Monash Health. Heather established the Hospital Liaison Team in Acute Services (now known as Addiction Medicine) and oversaw the formation of the Community Based Primary Health Care Clinics.

Alongside the Australian Nurses and Midwives Federation (Victorian Branch) and the Nurses Board of Victoria, Heather established the Nurses and Midwives Health Program Victoria in 2006. Heather was a Board Director in this service, then became the Chief Executive Officer of the Self-Help Addiction Resource Centre and lead this organisation for 15 years.

Heather brings to her position a strong passion for workforce health and wellbeing, community collaboration and partnership, striving towards person-centred, quality health care for all Victorians.

Meghraj Thakkar – Board Member

Meghraj has more than 25 years’ experience working for clients in numerous industries including healthcare, telecommunications, banking, transport, software, education, aviation, media, utilities and government.

He has worked all over the world in roles such as Board Director, Managing Director, Executive Technical Advisor, Gateway Reviewer, Consultant and Author. He has consulted for a number of major international and Australian companies.

Marie Aitken – Board Member

Marie is a skilled Psychologist with expertise in workplace health and wellbeing. Previously working in a private practice in Warracknabeal, she now works as an external clinical supervisor in the community health sector.

Marie has extensive Board experience having served as Board Chair at Wimmera Health Care Group and Board Director and Life Governor of Rural Northwest Health. She is currently a Board Director at WestVicPHN and a member of Latrobe University’s, Violet Vines Marshman Centre for Rural Health Research, advisory group.

Marie is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of rural communities and hopes to achieve this through system reform, skilled listening and shared decision making becoming central to every interpersonal interaction that happens in health.

Nicholas Jones – Board Member

Associate Professor Nicholas (Nick) Jones is a Cardiologist and the current Director of General Medicine at Austin Health. Nick is passionate about regional and rural health with a particular focus on correcting health inequality that exists within the Australian healthcare system. Having studied in rural South Australia, and worked in Bendigo and Echuca, Nick has experience practicing in the rural and regional environment.

Nick has a strong interest in clinical governance as well as clinical quality, safety, and risk management. Nick believes robust clinical governance systems are integral to provide high quality, patient centred healthcare to every patient, every time. Nick believes governance systems should support staff to deliver the high-quality care they want to.

Nick is an avid educator, having studied clinical education at the University of Melbourne, and is the current Director of Physician Education for the Central North-Western Consortium. He is an advocate for front line health workers and is a proponent for strengthening rural workforce through exposure and engagement during training and during early careers.

Nick was on the Wimmera Healthcare Group’s Board prior to joining Grampians Health’s Board on its inception.
He currently sits on Grampians Health’s: Quality and Safety Committee; the People and Culture Committee; as well as Population Health Committee.

Rhian Jones – Board Member

Rhian has served as a Board Director with Stawell Regional Health since 2012 and was elected Chair in 2016. During this time Rhian also Chaired the Grampians Region Board Chair Network.

Rhian joins Grampians Health with a community engagement and stakeholder background, drawing on her previous roles working with local businesses and voluntary organisations.

Rhian has a passion for rural equity and community engagement and loves her rural community of Stawell.

She has previously completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors’ Course and is a graduate of the Wimmera Development Association’s Community Leadership program.