IN CONVERSATION
In Conversation
with Christine Gee In Conversation provides a glimpse into the life of an ‘outlier’ — an exceptional person going above and beyond to improve outcomes in their field. We speak with Christine Gee, CEO of Toowong Private Hospital in Brisbane and former President of the Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA). She was recently awarded the 2021 ACHS (Australian Council on Healthcare Standards) Gold Medal, which recognises an individual for improving quality and safety in Australian health services.
Congratulations on the award! What, or who inspired you to get into health care? Thank you, it is a huge and very treasured honour.
My career in health care started by chance. After finishing high school I got a job at the Redcliffe Hospital as an Internal Reliever in Administration whilst waiting for the university year to start. It was a great job, essentially being the relief person for any of the administration staff who were on leave. After a month in the job, I knew I would never be able to work anywhere but a hospital… it felt like home and I loved it. So rather than a gap between school and university, it provided the foundation for a career in health care and a change in the choice of university degree! Somewhat of a strange choice given I will admit to having a healthy dose of nosocomephobia.
Tell us about the early days in your career? The early days at Redcliffe Hospital provided a fantastic opportunity and platform to really get to know all of the
88
HOSPITAL + HEALTHCARE
fundamentals that go into the operations of a hospital. In the two years I spent as an Internal Reliever I got to experience almost every administrative role there was, from switchboard operator, ward clerk, payroll, stores, medical secretary, medical records, theatre bookings, patient liaison and human resources. I also got to work with the full range of professions that make up a hospital and, in that, learnt how everyone involved contributes to the experience and care a patient receives.
have to focus on safety and quality because at the end of the day the whole point of a hospital is to provide quality and safe care. Feeling that I had gained a solid foundation in hospital management, I joined the Board of the Australian Private Hospitals Association in the mid-90s to become involved at an industry level.
I realised quickly that whether it is the direct clinical care from doctors, nurses and allied health, the clinical support of pharmacy, radiology or pathology right through to the administrative, engineering, catering and cleaning support services, everyone has to play their part for things to run smoothly and for people to be able to access the care and services they need. A passion for hospital management was ignited and has never dimmed.
Not long after that an opportunity presented itself to represent the private hospital industry on a Commonwealth Department of Health initiative that brought the private sector together to develop Private Sector Quality Criteria. I jumped at the chance given I already had a well-developed interest and understanding of safety and quality from my own facilities experience. It was not long after this time that Australia developed a more national focus on patient safety and I was passionate about the necessity for private sector inclusion in the development and implementation of national quality and safety initiatives.
How did you become involved in safety and quality?
What are your career highlights?
This was really a case of right time, right place. Being a hospital CEO you really do
SUMMER 2022
I’m really fortunate to say there are many and I hope the best are yet to come. I am most
hospitalhealth.com.au