Our Board

Julianne Clift – Chair

Registered Nurse/Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery

Julianne Clift has extensive experience in Executive roles in Nursing and Midwifery. Julianne joined the Board in 2018 and has been Chair since July 2020. Julianne has previous experience and commitment to rigorous Clinical Governance and support to nurture and develop a skilled nursing workforce. Julianne is a previous chair of the Quality and Clinical Risk Committee and a member of Audit and Risk Committee. Julianne is currently volunteering with the Lions Cancer Foundation conducting free skin checks throughout Victoria and is a hospital Accreditation Surveyor with the Australian Council for Healthcare Standards.

Simone Christie

Simone grew up on a family farm in Birchip before leaving the area in 1984 to complete a Bachelor of Business at Victorian University. She worked in various roles in Hospitality & Management in Australia and London before returning to Birchip in 1993 to complete a feasibility study on setting up a Telecentre. Simone has been the manager of the Birchip Neighbourhood House for 27 years, which evolved out of the feasibility study. Simone’s focus has been on providing community development opportunities that enhance the health, wellbeing and quality of life for residents of small rural communities, particularly young people and families. Simone is also involved in a small farming enterprise with her family. Simone is married to Russell, an assistant Principal at the Birchip P-12 School and they have three adult children. Simone is a past and present committee member and executive of several sporting clubs, community organisations, youth and neighbourhood house networks and gender equity COP’s in the Birchip, North Central and Loddon Mallee Region. Simone joined the board in July 2017, is a member of the Audit and Risk sub-committee and Deputy Chair of the Board since December 2021.

Nola Tudball

B.A, BSW, MSW

Nola has extensive experience in working in state and local government and not-for-profit community and health service organisations. She also has operated her own consulting company for over 25 years, specialising in strategy and business planning, and designing, developing, implementing, and reviewing services in a range of settings.

As a leader in local government and as a consultant, Nola has worked in partnership with communities and organisations, developing and negotiating practical solutions to complex and sensitive problems. Her experience also includes working with communities to build community resilience and recovery following major adverse events such as flood and bushfire.

Nola has extensive board experience in community health, childcare and neighbourhood house settings.

Kylie Thitchener

BN, MHSM (Mon), MAICD

Kylie is the Director of Quality and Patient Safety at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. She works with Peter MacCallum stakeholders to implement strategies to reduce the frequency of preventable adverse events. She is also a Board Director of the Australian Quadriplegic Association – Victoria where she is the convenor of the Quality and Risk Committee. Kylie is a health care professional who specialised in clinical governance and enterprise risk management in the acute health sector. With extensive experience in both the clinical and non- clinical environments including project management, quality improvement, leadership and management of teams, Kylie strives to utilise teams to improve service delivery aimed at providing better health outcomes and experiences for patients. Kylie began as an emergency nurse before focusing on risk management. She holds a Masters in Health Services Management and has worked in hospitals in Australia and the United States. Kylie joined the Board in July 2021 and is currently the Chair of Quality and Clinical Risk Committee.

Deidre Missingham

Deidre Missingham is a highly experienced lawyer, leader, and adviser with a background in strategy, policy, operations and project management across the public, for purpose and private sectors. A graduate and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Deidre joined the Board of the East Wimmera Health Service in July 2022, and is a member of the Audit and Risk sub-committee.

As a Consulting Principal in a mid-sized national law firm, Deidre’s legal practice specialises in privacy and data protection, information, occupational and business regulation and governance. Before that, during 10 years in the public sector, Deidre co-chaired the Victorian Government Solicitor’s Office’s Technology and Data Protection Practice Group and oversaw the legal aspects of establishment of Victoria’s new Labour Hire Licensing Authority, among other achievements. She is a former senior manager with organisations including the Governance Institute of Australia and CPA Australia.

For the past seven years Deidre has also served on Victoria’s Public Records Advisory Council (State Archives) and in 2022 was appointed to hearing panels by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) under the National Law 2009.

Deidre works flexibly and divides her time between Melbourne and Daylesford.

Philip Sabien

Philip has extensive experience as a Board Director within the Victorian health system that includes a Board Director with Wimmera health Care Group from July 2004 to June 2011 and filled a casual Board vacancy with Rural Northwest Health from August 2009 to June 2011.

More recently a Board Director of Edenhope & Memorial District Hospital from July 2018 to October 2021 and Board Chair from July 2019 to the November 2021 until the creation of Grampians Health from 1 November 2021.

Philip has been a Board Director of Community Axis Enterprises Inc. since 2018, based in Victoria and South East South Australia has successfully provided a range of government funded employment programs across these communities for the past 30 years.

He is currently employed by Grampians Health – Horsham for the past nine years in roles including the Executive Director Business Performance & Innovation and recently supported through Safer Care Victoria as the Improvement & Innovation Advisor.

His qualifications include: Bachelor of Applied Science – University of Western Sydney, Masters of Business Administration – Federation University, Professional Certificate in Health Systems Management – University of Melbourne and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

Philip was appointed as a Board Director of East Wimmera Health Service in July 2022 and currently chairs the Audit and Risk Committee and is a member of the Quality and Clinical Risk Committee.

Ross McKenzie

BSc(hon), PhD

Ross has over 23 years experience within the medical research and health care system of Victoria including more than 13 years expertise in the public health sector supporting operational improvement, service model design and performance oversight of Victoria’s Metropolitan and Rural hospitals. He has extensive experience in health system investment analysis, strategy and priority planning as well as experience in supporting government across areas of state-wide elective surgery management and emergency department operational performance. He has also spent over 8 years at the laboratory bench as a senior research scientist examining a range of factors associated with infectious diseases and allergic airway inflammation.

Steven Price

Steve has leadership experience across the health, aged care, and mental health sectors. As the Lived Experience Stream Lead for Community Connection and Wellbeing at Neami National, Steve supports the elevation of diverse Lived Experience perspectives of mental health challenges to support service delivery and drive innovation.

Currently residing in Ballarat, Steve has previously lived in Stawell and is passionate about ensuring equitable healthcare access and quality for all Australians in regional, rural, and remote communities. Steve holds governance positions with LEAD, a UK-based Lived Experience organisation, and Ostara Australia, an organisation that assists individuals who live with mental or emotional distress in finding employment.

Steve has obtained governance qualifications from the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australasian Institute of Clinical Governance.

Carolyn Stewart

In addition to running a fifth-generation mixed cropping and livestock farm in North Central Victoria with her husband, Carolyn is a current Councillor and former Mayor of the Buloke Shire who was selected to serve on the the Local Government Minister’s Mayoral Advisory Panel in 2020.

Carolyn is a qualified Accountant with a Master of Commerce (Accounting) and a Fellow of the Institute of Public Accountants. Carolyn is also a qualified teacher with a Graduate Diploma of Education and has taught in both Primary and Secondary school settings as well as delivering Pre-driver Education to Secondary students across the state at Chartsec in Charlton.Carolyn currently serves as Secretary on the Not-for-Profit Board of the Rex Theatre Museum and as the Community Safety Co-ordinator and General Firefighter for the Buckrabanyule CFA.