The BRHS Executive
Kathy Kinrade
MPH, GAICD, BN
Acting CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER-RN, Grad Dip (Critical Care – Emergency), MA Nursing
Kathy Kinrade is BRHS’ Acting Chief Executive Officer.
Kathy Kinrade was appointed as Acting CEO in October 2024. She was appointed BRHS’ first Director of Quality and Education in 2021, prior to which she was BRHS’ Clinical Operations Manager.
Kathy has held senior management roles for most of the past two decades and was previously Deputy Director of Nursing and Midwifery and Director of Clinical Operations at West Gippsland Healthcare Group.
As the Director of Quality and Education Kathy holds responsibility for accreditation across all areas of the organisation, oversight of incident management and feedback and the quality improvement initiatives and education services across BRHS.
“I have spent most of my nursing career in country areas,” she said. “I find that close connection that rural health services have to the community they serve to be very rewarding.”
Dr Katherine Willis-Sullivan
CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, Executive Medical Services - BRHS and East Gippsland Sub-region
Dr Katherine Willis-Sullivan has joined BRHS as Executive Medical Services in October 2024, bringing 15 years of experience managing medical
staff and a deep connection to Gippsland.
Born and raised in the Latrobe
Valley, Katherine graduated with honours in medicine from Monash University and undertook her clinical training at The Alfred and Monash Medical Centre. In
addition to her clinical work in women’s care, she gained skills in forensic
medicine, aviation medicine and disaster management.
For the past 12 years she
has served as Director of Medical Services in Lismore, northern NSW, where she
focussed on medical education, clinical governance, workforce development, and
healthcare quality and safety. Her portfolio also included responsibility for
Pharmacy, Medical Imaging and Medical Records.
Katherine is passionate about fostering excellence in
healthcare and is committed to supporting the well-being of patients and staff
alike.
“Returning to Gippsland marks a personal and professional milestone for me, I am delighted to have the opportunity to contribute to the health and welfare of the community I grew up in.”
Maree Fellows
Executive Acute Services/CHIEF NURSE AND MIDWIFE - RN, RM, BN
Maree Fellows is BRHS’ Executive Acute Services/Chief Nurse and Midwife.
In this role, Maree has operational responsibility for a wide range of the clinical services at BRHS and to meet agreed Department of Health priorities including access, discharge and overall flow of patients across BRHS.
As Chief Nurse and Midwife, the Director also provides leadership for the nursing and midwifery workforce, and oversight of their professional standards.
Melbourne-based for almost all of her career, Maree has a qualification in Nursing and Midwifery, having studied Health Administration at Latrobe University, and also Law at Monash University.
Her professional career started as a Registered Nurse and also a Midwife in the public health service before moving into executive roles in Health.
Maree has a long-held passion for and deep understanding of Clinical Governance, having represented private health at national level for many years.
Maree also has a strong commitment to organisational culture, coming to BRHS with sound operational/management experience and more than 20 years of senior executive leadership experience at Director and CEO level across many health businesses.
“BRHS is my first opportunity to support a regional health service to deliver exceptional health care. Ensuring that we deliver health services models that are patient-centred in a rural setting inspires me at BRHS, and aligns with my visions of what exemplary health services looks like,” she said.
Peter Barker
Executive People and Culture
Peter Barker is BRHS’ Executive People and Culture.
Peter has more than 25 years of people and culture and change management experience across a range of businesses and sectors including healthcare, mining, construction, transport and logistics, labour hire and government. Peter is an experienced manager, a marketer and strategist.
In this strategic executive role, Peter oversees a range of professional services including workplace relations, workforce planning, employee wellness, occupational health and safety, recruitment, organisational development, payroll administration, corporate administrative support, accommodation services, diversity, equity and inclusion, building teams and culture, managing performance and people policy.
Peter is solutions-focused and has a level head; utilising his many years of broad industry experience. He hopes to support and to add value for our BRHS managers and teams.
His career achievements include operational and strategic people management in both large and small healthcare facilities, strategy and development of a large integrated regional ‘health hub’, project lead and change manager for a large service collocation and asset rationalization project, administration and management for a large Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure project and establishing and operating a labour hire business specialising in hard to get engineering skills.
Peter is approachable and he listens. He has three lovely children who are now grown up and live and work in Queensland.
He has family and friends in the East Gippsland region and is looking forward to experiencing all that the region has to offer.
“I am looking forward to meeting and working with the BRHS team” he said.
“East Gippsland offers visitors and local people so much, we must market the region, the lifestyle and the friendly people to help to attract and retain more staff for BRHS and our community.”
Shireen Jahan
Executive Corporate Services/chief financial officer
Shireen Jahan is BRHS’ Executive Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer, commencing in the role in September 2024.
Shireen is a results-driven finance executive with a passion for breaking down complexities with proven commercial experience working with Iconic Retail Businesses, Government and Not for Profit organisations across 16 years in Executive Financial Management, Technological and Operational Leadership roles.
A Transformation and Change Leader who has successfully managed end to end finance shared services and IT functions and led diverse multi-cultural teams, with demonstrated results in adapting to the business challenges with the capacity to influence and deliver sustainable solutions across all levels.
Shireen is Fellow of the Chartered Practicing Accountant (CPA) and holds an Executive MBA at Melbourne Business School.
She is also a Graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
Kathy Kinrade
Executive Quality and Education - RN, Grad Dip (Critical Care – Emergency), MA Nursing
Kathy Kinrade is BRHS’ Executive Quality and Education.
Kathy Kinrade was appointed BRHS’ first Director of Quality and Education in 2021, prior to which she was BRHS’ Clinical Operations Manager.
Kathy has held senior management roles for most of the past two decades and was previously Deputy Director of Nursing and Midwifery and Director of Clinical Operations at West Gippsland Healthcare Group.
As the Director of Quality and Education Kathy holds responsibility for accreditation across all areas of the organisation, oversight of incident management and feedback and the quality improvement initiatives and education services across BRHS.
“I have spent most of my nursing career in country areas,” she said. “I find that close connection that rural health services have to the community they serve to be very rewarding.”
Sonia Reisenhofer
Executive Community, Wellbeing and Aged Care - RN, MN (Emergency), PhD
East Gippsland local Sonia Reisenhofer returned to Bairnsdale in early 2022 to join BRHS as Director of Community Wellbeing and Partnerships before her present role.
Sonia is responsible for many of the services that promote health and wellbeing in our community, including Allied Health, Consulting Suites, Community Health and Complex Care, Better@Home, Dental Services, the Pain Management Clinic, and our Residential Aged Care facilities at Maddocks Gardens.
Before joining BRHS Sonia was Associate Provost (International) for the College of Science, Health and Engineering at La Trobe University, where she led international partnerships and engagement for the College.
Prior to this, Sonia was Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor (Academic Partnerships) for the College and among other roles, was Director of International in the School of Nursing & Midwifery, also having worked as a Nursing Academic, Graduate Nurse Coordinator and Emergency Nurse over the past 20 years.
A PhD qualified Registered Nurse, Sonia’s research interests are in women’s health, particularly intimate partner violence, and global learning experiences.
Sonia is an Adjunct Associate Professor at La Trobe University’s School of Nursing and Midwifery.
“After having been away for nearly 20 years, I’m delighted to be home again, closer to family and friends, and with this incredible opportunity to support BRHS in delivering excellence in community focused health care.”
