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. 

Ms Emma-Louise Hunsley

The Executive Officer and Manager of Corporate Governance provides operational management support to the Chief Executive Officer and coordinates projects and reviews aimed at improving the operational efficiency and performance of St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney.

Emma-Louise manages the policy framework, processes and systems to ensure compliance with St Vincent’s corporate governance framework and NSW Ministry of Health policies.

A/Prof Philip Cunningham OAM

Associate Professor Philip Cunningham is Deputy Director of Research at St Vincent’s Health Network and Chief Operating Officer for the St Vincent’s Centre for Applied Medical Research. The Centre for Applied Medical Research is the peak medical research enterprise for St Vincent’s Hospital Darlinghurst campus and provides world class research support and infrastructure. 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. Philip was Vice President and Office holder Board of Directors for the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine (ASHM) for more than 9 years. 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.  She completed her education and raised her family in Armidale NSW.

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

As Director of Aboriginal Health at St Vincent’s, Pauline drives the strategic direction of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Health across all of the NSW facilities. She also directly supports in-patients and their families, believing that listening directly to the needs of Aboriginal people is the best way to learn how the health care system can better serve them.

Mr David Faktor

David is the key spokesperson for St Vincent’s facilities across NSW. He is regarded as a leading public affairs & communications specialist within the healthcare and biomedical research sectors and holds leadership roles in relation to communicating organisational cultural change as well as public health advocacy.

David’s primary role over the past two decades has been in both internal and external stakeholder engagement - promoting key organisational strategic objectives while overseeing risk-mitigation strategies. Prior to working at St Vincent’s, David was the Manager of Public Affairs at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne from 1998-2001. He also served on the Board of Management of WAYS Youth Services from 2011-2016, and as a Board Director of Emanuel School from 2018-2019.  He is currently a Board Director of Stretch a Family.

Ms Katelyn Forster

As the Acting Director of Strategy, Planning and Partnerships, Katelyn oversees strategy, health service planning and strategic partnerships across the Network. Katelyn supports the Executive team to set, and embed, strategic decisions across the organisation.

Ms Ruth Hood

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. 

Joining St Vincent’s in 2016, 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.

Mr Matthew Kearney

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.

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.

Ms Margaret Lazar

Margaret holds a Bachelors of Social Work from University of NSW, a Masters of Social Work from Rutgers University in New Jersey and a Masters in Health Administration from St. Joseph’s University, in Philadelphia. She has had a career in major medical centres in the USA, focusing on operations and management in mental health, oncology and transplant. Recently, she was employed to establish an integrated centre at a cancer hospital and has been at St Vincent’s as Director of Allied Health since 2014.

As Director of Allied Health, Margaret is responsible for the planning and development needs of the St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney Allied Health service for the fiscal, organisational, physical and human resource. The Director of Allied Health works in conjunction with key medical, nursing and support staff to provide operational and strategic direction.

Dr Kevin Luong

As Director of Medical Services, Kevin is responsible for overall leadership and management of medical governance and workforce issues as well as the clinical governance function across St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney. The Director of Medical Services has responsibility for medical and clinical governance advice to the Executive Team.

Kevin has a keen interest in medical engagement, workload, safety and welfare; and is accountable for ensuring the Network has a fit-for-purpose, experienced and committed medical workforce to support exceptional patient care, clinical training, research and innovation. Kevin is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators, and holds a Masters of Health Management from the University of New South Wales.  Prior to commencing at St Vincent’s in 2020, he held senior medical leadership roles at Northern Sydney Local Health District; serving as the Deputy Director of Medical Services at Royal North Shore Hospital, and the Acting Director of Medical Services at Northern Beaches Health 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 $30 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 has more than 15 years leadership, marketing and fundraising experience gained in iconic Australian institutions. Her previous roles include Assistant Director of the National Gallery of Australia, Head of Fundraising at Taronga & Western Plains Zoos, and Director of Development and Marketing at the Sydney Opera House.   Shanthini has a Masters of Management (ANU) and Bachelor of Business Communications (QUT).  She also keeps her connection to the arts through her role as a Board Member of the Sydney International Piano Competition.

Ms Linda Patat

Mr Rio Pun

As Director of People and Culture, 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. The  Executive Director of People and Culture provides service to the operational streams and realise opportunities for consistency, efficiency, automation and back-up support for our workforce. He 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.

Mr John Slaven

 As the CFO and Director of Corporate Services, John is responsible for providing effective overall leadership and management of finance across St Vincent’s NSW public health network, management of capital works, facilities, health information services and patient logistics. This position provides professional financial and corporate services consistent with St Vincent’s Health Australia group wide strategy.

John has held executive team positions in large public health services since 2008, in both Qld and NSW Health. Roles included Chief Finance Officer Cairns & Hinterland Hospital and Health Service; Executive Director Finance, Business and Operational Services, Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service ; Director Financial Operations & Asset Management, Mid North Coast Local Health District.

John’s attributes his broad depth of understanding and ability to manage in a complex environment to 12 years spent early in his career working with PwC in a variety of roles including audit and business services. 

A/Prof Anna Thornton

Anna has held the position as the Director of Nursing of St Vincent’s Health Network, Sydney since February 2018. Before this, Anna held the roles of Director of Nursing at Liverpool, Canberra, Prince of Wales Hospital and Sacred Heart Hospice and held senior nursing leadership positions at the Royal Hospital for Women, St George and Mt Druitt Hospitals. Anna led the development of the Essentials of Care Program whilst at Prince of Wales and also the state-wide implementation of the program in 2008. Her extensive experience is complimented by a Masters of Nursing Management.

Anna has particular interests in developing staff and creating contemporary health care environments that are patient centred and highly satisfying for nurses. She is very proud to be called a nurse and aspires that care at SVHNS is of the highest quality and delivered with compassion. Her concern for the wellbeing of the community is a driving principal behind her work.

As Director of Nursing Anna is responsible for the planning and development needs of the St Vincent’s Health Network Sydney Nursing service for the fiscal, organisational, physical and human resource. She works in conjunction with key medical, allied health and support staff to provide operational and strategic direction and advice on patient flow.