General News
11 February, 2025
Booster shot for key body
HIGHLY-regarded health sector leader Ben Tooth is the new boss of the Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN), an organisation which rolls out $80 million a year in primary and mental health care services funded by the federal government outside of the state government’s hospital and health services.
Mr Tooth had been interim chief executive officer of NQPHN since the departure of Sean Rooney in September last year. Prior to that a former board chairman Terry Mehan held the role, also an interim position, after Robin Whyte quit in January last year.
Mr Tooth was NQPHN board chairman before taking on the temporary CEO position. He started in the permanent role last month.
He was chief executive officer of Cairns Private Hospital for Ramsay Health Care for more than eight years. He is also chairman of the Cairns Regional Council audit committee, deputy chairman of Cairns Bank and the Catholic Development Fund in Cairns.
QPHN chairman Jeff Stewart-Harris said Mr Tooth had extensive executive leadership experience as Cairns Private Hospital CEO, holding various roles on the NQPHN board and more recently stepping in as the organisation’s interim CEO.
“Ben has demonstrated his wealth of experience while in the role and has the added advantage of understanding NQPHN’s business and the health landscape in which the organisation operates intimately,” Mr Stewart-Harris said.
“Evidenced by his short time as interim CEO, supported by his time on the NQPHN board, and being an experienced CEO, the board and I are confident in Ben’s ability to lead the organisation toward continued success and innovation
“Under Ben’s leadership, we look forward to NQPHN achieving its goals and driving growth for the organisation.”
Mr Tooth said NQPHN was “a wonderful organisation and I recognise the responsibility that comes with the role”.
“I’m excited about the year to come and working with our fantastic team to achieve positive outcomes for North Queenslanders,” he said.
“In the first half of this year, we’ll be developing a new strategic plan, which is an exciting opportunity to shape our direction for the years ahead.”
The recruitment process to appoint a new CEO was undertaken by Executive Quarter, a reputable recruitment company with deep health sector experience. There were more than 70 applications.
NQPHN recently released its 2023-24 annual report which outlined it had delivered 205 primary healthcare service contracts across the region, investing more than $80 million into primary and mental health care.
Some of the highlights included more than 73,000 people receiving mental health services funded by NQPHN (15,460 of them were new clients) and more than 40,900 integrated team care services were coordinated for First Nation’s peoples by the region’s 12 service providers. The two Medicare Urgent Care Clinics in Cairns and Townsville have recorded more than 12,000 visits each since opening almost 12 months ago.
