Board

The establishment of Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service (GCHHS) as a statutory body under the control of the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Board (GCHHB) occurred on 1 July 2012. This provides an opportunity to have enhanced local decision making about local health services to benefit the local community. The Board will strive to add genuine value to Gold Coast Health. The Board is committed to developing ways to involve the community in designing local health service delivery into the future.

The GCHHB will continue to focus on strategies to meet the growth in demand for health services. It will consider innovative ways to increase resources to the region, including the possibility of increased public / private partnerships. The Board looks to improve access to hospital services, including making sure the excellent facilities in the region are used to their capacity. The range of services provided locally will continue to be increased. This helps to reduce, and in some cases eliminate, the need for the public to travel to Brisbane for treatment.

The GCHHB regularly review all current services that are provided across the spectrum of health care, including community services. This will allow informed decisions to be made on the direction of health services that the GCHHS will provide into the future.

Board Chair

Mr Ian Langdon

Mr Ian Langdon has extensive Board experience encompassing roles such as Board Chairman, Audit Committee Chair and non-Executive Director with a wide range of companies and government organisations, including as Chair of Autism Queensland. Ian has a strong background in agribusiness, food production and marketing. Ian was appointed as Chairman of the Peanut Company of Australia in March 2008 after joining the Board in March 2005. He was Chairman of Australian Co-operative Foods Ltd (the Dairy Farmers Group) from 1989 until its sale in November 2008. Ian was also a director of Rabobank Australia Limited 1995-2004, Pivot Limited between 1993 and 2003 and Delta Electricity 2000- 2006. Ian is the Commission Chair of the Gasfields Commission, which aims to manage and improve the sustainable coexistence of landholders, regional communities and the onshore gas industry in Queensland.

He has held various positions in tertiary education including Associate Professor and Dean of Business Faculty at Griffith University (Gold Coast Campus), Dean of Business at The Darling Downs Institute of Technology (now University of Southern Queensland) and Senior Lecturer in finance at Deakin University.

Ian is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD) and Certified Practising Accountant (CPA). He holds a Bachelor of Commerce, Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Diploma of Education.

Deputy Board Chair

Prof Judy Searle

Professor Searle’s resume demonstrates a diverse range of skills and experiences. She started her career as a medical specialist before moving primarily into leadership and management positions in academe both in Australia and the UK. She then took up the opportunity to expand her experiences more broadly as she moved to senior advisory positions within Government both Federal and Territory. More recently she had the opportunity to manage the day-to-day activities of a not-for-profit national and cross-Tasman professional body as their CEO.

The highlight of her career to date has been the appointment as Senior Adviser to the then Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon Nicola Roxon MP. She describes it as the most complex, intense, frantic and demanding job she has ever done.

She also had the privilege of setting up two new medical schools, one in the UK as Associate Dean and then returning to Australia as the Foundation Dean for the School of Medicine at Griffith University.

Currently Judy continues to contribute to the health and education sectors as a non-Executive board member and as an academic consultant.

She has therefore had the opportunity to work across most sectors particularly in health including clinical service provision, academia, policy development, regulation and accreditation, board directorship and medico-politics.

As a constant she has been a champion for the public sector and is motivated by values and quality.

Board Members

Prof Cindy Shannon

Professor Cindy Shannon is a Ngugi woman and descendant of the Quandamooka people. She is an Emeritus Professor with the University of Queensland, among many other roles. Cindy was the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Engagement) at the University of Queensland from 2011-2017, and inaugural Director of its Poche Centre for Indigenous Health. Cindy led the development and implementation of Australia’s first degree level program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and played a key role is supporting the establishment of the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health in South-East Queensland.  Cindy is currently the Chair of the Queensland Ministerial Advisory Committee on Sexual Health, Chair of the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Foundation, a member of the Advancing Health 2026 Ministerial Oversight Committee and Chair of the Brisbane South Primary Health Network.   Cindy has contributed to Indigenous health policy in Queensland and nationally and served on the Council of NHMRC from 2005-12 and was appointed to the Gold Coast Health Board to help drive our range of support services in this area.

Ms Teresa Dyson

Ms Teresa Dyson has leadership and governance experience across the private and public sectors. In her legal practice, Teresa provided tax and structuring advice on infrastructure arrangements, merger and acquisition activity, and financing arrangements. Teresa is a full-time Board Director who has previously specialised in asset finance and leasing, Public-Private Partnerships and private infrastructure arrangements, securitisation and transactions in the energy and resources sector and the aviation and transport industry. 

Teresa is a member of the Boards of Energy Super, Energy Queensland, Shine Corporate Ltd Seven West Media Ltd, Genex Power Ltd, the National Housing Finance Investment Commission, Power and Water Corporation (Northern Territory) and the Foreign Investment Review Board. 

Teresa is a Director and Audit Committee Chair of the Boards of both Energy Queensland and the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education.    Teresa has previously been Chair of the Board of Taxation and a member of the Board of SEQ Water Grid Manager, Opera Queensland, Lifeline Australia and the United Nations Women’s National Committee Australia.

Teresa was named Woman Lawyer of the Year in 2011 by the Women Lawyers Association of Queensland. She has also been Chair of the Board of Taxation and member on the Board of SEQ Water Grid Manager and the Audit and Risk Committee of Lifeline Australia.  She has been a partner of global professional services firms Ashurst and Deloitte and is the  past Chair of the Business Law Section of the Law Council of Australia.

Dr Andrew Weissenberger

Dr Andrew Weissenberger is the Practice Principal at Hope Island Medical Centre and has been in the medical profession for more than two decades. His special interests include aged care and chronic disease management.

Andrew graduated with first class honours in medicine from the University of Queensland in 1988, where he was awarded the William Nathaniel Robertson Medal and the J.R.L. Lahz Memorial Prize.

He began his career in hospitals, working at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane, before moving into community general practice in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast.

Andrew also has a keen interest in the training and education of both medical students and registrars, and is a Senior Lecturer with Griffith University. He is also actively involved as a surveyor for accreditation in general practice.

In 2013 Hope Island Medical Centre was recognised for its efforts in quality improvements and was awarded Australian General Practice of the Year.

Andrew has previous Board experience for Hopewell Services Inc (which incorporates Hopewell Hospice and Paradise Kids) and the Gold Coast Division of General Practice. He has also completed the Australian Institute of Company Directors course (GAICD).

Ms Colette McCool

Ms Colette McCool has more than 25 years’ experience as a senior executive in large and complex public sector organisations. She has held senior leadership positions across economic and social portfolios in State, Territory and Local Governments, in diverse functional areas such as community services and health, waste management and transport.

Colette has outstanding leadership, management and business skills. Her strengths include highly developed skills and extensive experience in community consultation, engagement and capacity building, coupled with a deep knowledge of the diverse Gold Coast community and its needs. She is an exceptional communicator, presenter and negotiator who has proven ability to collaborate effectively with diverse stakeholders.

Colette has been a member of many boards. Currently as a Board Director for Gold Coast Health, she is a member of the Executive, Research and Safety, Quality and Clinician Engagement Committees. Colette was Chair of the Safety Quality and Clinician Engagement Committee from 2012 - 2018, and also a member of the Finance and Performance, and Audit and Risk Committees. She is a past Director on the Gold Coast Hospital Foundation. Colette has held the position of Deputy Chair and acting Chair of the Regional Development Authority (Gold Coast), and Director of Queensland Events (Gold Coast).

Colette is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Her qualifications include Bachelor of Arts, Diploma of Australian Institute of Company Directors, and Masters of International Management. Additionally she holds postgraduate qualifications in education, applied linguistics and librarianship. She is a qualified mediator.

Colette was awarded the 2007 Telstra Business Woman of the Year (QLD) in the Government and Community category. She was awarded a Public Service Medal (PSM) on Australia Day 2018.

Mr Robert Buker

Mr Robert Buker has over 48 years of experience as a Chartered Accountant, with extensive experience delivering internal and external audit, accounting services, corporate governance, project management, as well as providing financial and management consulting. 

His extensive experience includes both the public and private sectors in local, national and international markets. Robert was the former Managing and Audit Partner of Acumen Alliance in Canberra, Audit Partner of WHK Horwath (now Crowe Horwath), Director of Audit for Vincents Chartered Accountants and most recently was Chief Financial Officer of Careflight Group Queensland. 

Robert has extensive direct experience working with all levels of government covering Commonwealth, State and Local over the past 25 years. Whilst Robert was a partner at WHK Group he was responsible for managing the external audit of the City of Gold Coast for approximately four years, on behalf of the Queensland Auditor General.

Prof Helen Chenery

Professor Helen Chenery is a non-executive director and has extensive strategic and operational experience in executive leadership roles within the higher education and health sectors.

She is a leading language and rehabilitation researcher with a particular interest in the application of digital technologies in healthcare and has led policy and practice reform in dementia care, health workforce and service design, and interprofessional education/practice.

Helen was previously Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine at Bond University and Deputy Executive Dean in Health Sciences at The University of Queensland. She holds Honorary Professorships from both Bond University and UQ.

Mr Michael Kinnane

Michael Kinnane has led an accomplished career as Director-General of several Queensland Government Departments over a period of 12 years as well as leadership and management roles in the health and emergency services sector.

Michael is a strategic change leader who is community and outcomes focused, and an accomplished communicator with a record of achievement resulting in positive patient outcomes for the community.

As Director-General of the Department of Emergency Services he was accountable for more than 8500 employees, 40,000 volunteers and a budget of $1.5 billion.

Michael also served as CEO of the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) for five years during which time he led the transformational change process of the organisation such as reform to paramedic professional qualifications and skills and extra funding for frontline services which ultimately led to the government’s decision for free ambulance services for Queensland.

He thrives on leading and driving high performance organisations.

In 2017 Michael was appointed chair and non-executive director of Construction Skills Queensland and serves as non-executive director of NORTEC Employment Services.

Michael is a fellow of Australian Institute of Company Directors, fellow of Australian Institute of Management and a member of Australian Institute of Public Administration.

Dr Cherrell Hirst

Dr Cherrell Hirst graduated from the University of Queensland in medicine and practised for 30 years, predominantly as Director of the Wesley Breast Clinic (1982-2001) where she achieved a national reputation in the field of breast cancer screening and diagnosis. 

Her interest in the value of education, both in the practice of medicine and more broadly, led to her appointment on the Council of Queensland University of Technology in 1990 and she was elected Chancellor in 1994, serving until 2004. Cherrell served on the Board of Trustees at Brisbane Girls Grammar School from 1990 to 2006 and was Chair from 1996.

She has pursued a career as a professional non-executive director since 2001 and served as a Director on a wide variety of corporate entities across the finance, insurance, biotechnology, arts and education sectors. Cherrell is currently Chair of Factor Therapeutics Ltd and the John Villiers Trust board, a director of Bolton Clarke (previously RSL Care RDNS), and chairs the  Advisory Board of the Institute of Molecular Biosciences (IMB) at the University of Queensland and she serves on a number of Queensland government committees. 

Cherrell was the Chair of ASX listed companies ImpediMed Ltd and was a non-executive director of Medibank Private Ltd, Suncorp Ltd and other corporate entities.   She was part-time Chief Executive Officer of QIC BioVentures from 2007 to 2014.

In recognition of her work in the fields of breast cancer and education, Cherrell has been awarded five honorary doctorates (from QUT, GU, USC, UQ and SCU ), a Centenary Medal (2003) and the title of Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) (1998).

She was named Queenslander of the Year in 1995 and is an elected member of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. 

Last updated 03 Jul 2020