Western Victoria PHN seeks new CEO

THE Western Victoria Primary Health Network (WVPHN) is on the hunt for a new chief executive officer, with incumbent Rowena Clift accepting a new job elsewhere.

Last week, WVPHN announced Ms Clift had taken on a dual CEO role at the Western District Health Service and Casterton Memorial Hospital respectively.

Ms Clift will continue at WVPHN until the end of the year and then begin the new Hamilton-based position on February 1, 2024.

A highly regarded leader in the health care sector, Ms Clift started at WVPHN in June 2016 as director of services and systems integration.

During this time, she also took up a secondment position as acting chief executive officer of Ballan District Health and Care.

She was appointed CEO of WVPHN – which covers 21 local government areas from Geelong to the South Australian border and and a population of about 618,000 – in 2020.

“Rowena has made a significant contribution to WVPHN as both director of services and systems integration and as the CEO,” WVPHN board chair Professor Susan Brumby said.

WVPHN says it has started a “robust” recruitment process to find Ms Clift’s replacement, with an acting CEO to be announced shortly.