Our Leadership Team

Anna McFadgen

As CEO, St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney, Anna is accountable for the overall leadership and management of St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney which comprises St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, Sacred Heart Health Service  and St Vincent's Correctional Health Service at Parklea Correctional Centre . The CEO leads St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney to deliver on its mission objectives by ensuring high quality, efficient and mission-based execution of day-to-day health service delivery, combined with a robust focus on continuous, balanced improvement.

The CEO strengthens the organisation’s values, its commitment to the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and adherence to the Catholic Health Australia Code of Ethical Standards for Catholic Health and Aged Care Services in Australia through direct role modelling and major leadership decisions relating to strategy, policy, operational improvement and performance management.

Mr Chris Ball

As Executive Director of Quality, Performance and Improvement, Chris is accountable for driving the delivery of quality, safety and service excellence across St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney. This encompasses the development and implementation of quality initiatives and data-driven improvement approaches that improve patient outcomes, patient experience, staff experience and operational efficiency.

Chris brings a unique blend of both clinical and improvement expertise, with a proven track record in driving quality, safety, and service excellence within the healthcare industry. With an unwavering commitment to continuous improvement, working at both local and state levels on priority projects that have changed the way healthcare is delivered. 

Prof Philip Cunningham OAM

Professor Philip Cunningham is St Vincent’s Health Network's Chief Research Officer and Chief Operating Officer for the St Vincent’s Centre for Applied Medical Research.

He is the Chief Scientist at the NSW State Reference Laboratory for HIV at St Vincent’s which plays a significant role in the diagnosis and management for people living with HIV and informing the Australian Government’s public health response. He has worked extensively throughout the Asia Pacific region strengthening clinical laboratory capacity and quality management systems as a technical advisor to Kirby Institute UNSW, WHO and the US CDC.

His research interests include public health surveillance of target priority populations at risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, improving the demand for diagnostic testing.  He holds a conjoint appointment at the Kirby Institute for Infection and Immunity in Society at UNSW and was awarded the Order of Australia for services to medical research and sexual health medicine in the 2020 Queens Birthday Honours List..

Ms Pauline Deweerd

 Pauline is a proud Yuin lady, born in Sydney and raised on the far South Coast of NSW.

As Executive Director of Aboriginal Health at St Vincent’s, Pauline holds an MBA in Management, and oversees the strategic direction of Aboriginal Health across all of the NSW facilities. She also supports in-patients and their families, believing that listening directly to the needs of Aboriginal people is the best way to learn how the healthcare system can better serve them.

She began her career as a trainee drug and alcohol Nurse, before moving to Armidale to finish her education and commencing with NSW Health. She then joined the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) working to improve employment and education outcomes for Aboriginal people. After 30 years of employment with DEEWR, she joined the Australian Parents Council, facilitating a national training program to achieve better learning outcomes for Aboriginal students.

Ms Katelyn Forster

Katelyn is the Head of Strategy and Planning at St Vincent’s Health Network in Sydney and forms part of the newly formed St Vincent’s Health Australia National Strategy and Planning team.

Katelyn is involved in guiding, embedding and actioning strategic decisions and initiatives across the organisation in line with the organisations mission, vision and Strategy to 2030. With expertise in clinical service and capital planning in public health, aged care and community services, Katelyn is passionate about driving change in the health and aged care sector for a more sustainable and equitable future. 

Ms Ruth Hood

As head of Legal and Risk, Ruth advises on all legal aspects of health care service delivery for St Vincent’s Health Network, and is committed to the optimisation of legal operations for the organisation, protecting both our staff and patients alike.

Ruth began her career as a nurse and then trained as a midwife, working as a clinician for many years before taking on various roles focussing on Infection Control and Communicable Diseases within the Queensland public health system. Ruth gained another degree, this time in Law, from where she has pursued a new career path. Ruth subsequently spent 16 years as a lawyer in large law firms and in-house giving her a strong foundation and broad range of legal skills. 

Mr Matthew Kearney

As Director of Mission and Inclusive Health Matt is responsible for the overall management and executive leadership of mission, social justice and inclusive health across St Vincent's Health Network Sydney in accordance with the Mission, Vision and Values of St Vincent's Health Australia, inspired by the healing ministry of Jesus and the tradition of Mary Aikenhead. The Director also has oversight of chaplaincy, pastoral & spiritual care, pastoral education, mission integration, staff mission formation and volunteer services across the network.

Matt holds Master’s degrees in Theology, Counselling, and is currently completing an MBA. After volunteering with a homelessness service as a young person,  Matt developed a passion for social justice, which lead him to work in leadership roles in Catholic education and healthcare organisations focused on serving the most vulnerable people in society. Matt draws great energy from the commitment of St Vincent’s to serve the local community. He is also involved in research investigating effective models for spiritual care in the diverse Australian context.

Kristian Lewis

As Interim Executive Director of Allied Health, Kris provides overall leadership and management to the allied health departments at SVHS. Kris is focused on the delivery of operational and strategic allied health priorities that inform care provision to patients of St Vincent’s Health Network.

Kris is an Occupational Therapist by background having managed the Occupational Therapy department at SVHNS and holds a Masters of Business Administration (Healthcare Management). Kris is committed to delivering excellent, efficient, safe and effective allied health services to patients and coordinated care across the service.

Ms Shanthini Naidoo

Shanthini is the CEO of the St Vincent’s Curran Foundation which is the fundraising organisation for St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney and St Vincent’s Private Hospitals in Sydney and Griffith.   Shanthini is responsible for leading the fundraising efforts of the Foundation to support the vision and mission of St Vincent’s Hospitals to deliver excellent and innovative patient care, lead clinical research and support workforce education initiatives.

The St Vincent’s Curran Foundation raises more than $40 million a year through donations and corporate support to enable St Vincent’s to undertake initiatives which are not government funded but ensure better outcomes for St Vincent’s patients.

Shanthini is also the Company Secretary of the St Vincent’s Curran Trustee Ltd which acts as Trustee of the JW & M Cunningham Foundation.  Each year the Cunningham Foundation distributes more than $5m in grants supporting St Vincent’s Hospitals in NSW.

Mr Joe Portelli

As Chief Financial Officer of St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney, Joe is dedicated to ensuring our organisation’s financial sustainability, enabling the delivery of world-class healthcare to the people of NSW.

With a strong background in health funding, pricing policy, and performance analytics, Joe brings a wealth of expertise to his role. He holds qualifications in Accounting and Biostatistics, equipping him with a strategic approach to financial management in the healthcare sector.

Previously, as Executive Director of the System Purchasing Branch at NSW Ministry of Health, Joe led the development and management of Service Agreements across NSW Health. His leadership played a key role in policy implementation and advancing environmental sustainability initiatives within the health system.

Mr Rio Pun

As Head of People and Partnering, Rio is accountable for overall leadership and management of the human resources and work health and safety function across St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney.

He provides service to the operational streams and realise opportunities for consistency, efficiency, automation and back-up support for our workforce. Rio assists managers in conducting all operations relating to human resources and industrial relation functions including the provision of advice and support on performance management, support and intervention in disciplinary matters, advice about succession management and retention and industrial relations grievance resolution.

Professor Paul Preisz

As Chief Medical Officer, Paul works collaboratively with key stakeholders across St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney and more broadly across the St Vincent’s Health Innovation Precinct, to strengthen medical leadership and engagement, enhance the interrelationship between medical practice and research, and support the change agenda for the organisation aligned with the newly launched St Vincent’s Health Australia Strategy 2030. 

Paul has served as the Director of Emergency Medicine at St Vincent’s for the last five years and as a staff specialist for the previous thirty years.  He has also recently served as the Acting Director of the Medical Stream. He has extensive experience in leadership and innovation in health care as well as strong academic and medical teaching connections, at both the University of Notre Dame, and the University of NSW.

Dr Rajdeep Ubeja

As Director Medical Services and Chief Medical Information Officer,  Raj is responsible for professional management and oversight of all medical staff within SVHNS. Within this role he is responsible for executive oversight of the Medical Workforce Unit and Sydpath.

Raj holds Fellowships with the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (RACMA) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. He holds a Master of Health Policy and has special interests in digital health and virtual care, clinical governance, and comparative health systems analysis.