Plus news from Healthdirect, a major health tech, and the Tasmanian government.
After a “highly competitive recruitment process” Murrumbidgee PHN has promoted from within and appointed Narelle Mills as its new CEO.
It’s been a complicated couple of years at the top of the PHN.
Ms Mills did a stint as acting CEO for six months after Melissa Neal resigned in late 2023. Ms Neal is now director of wellbeing and priority populations at South Eastern NSW PHN.
Stewart Gordon was appointed to the Murrumbidgee role in July 2024, but left in December 2025, to become CEO of Health Workforce Queensland.
Ms Mills has been with Murrumbidgee PHN in various capacities since 2008.
“I am deeply grateful for the trust placed in me by the Board, our partners and the MPHN team,” she said.
“As we look ahead, our opportunity is to build on our strong foundations, deepen our partnerships and continue shaping a primary care system that delivers meaningful, lasting impact for the communities we serve.”
Board chair Associate Professor Alam Yoosuff said Ms Mills was a “deeply respected and values-led leader with the steady hands needed to guide MPHN forward”.
New director for Healthdirect
Healthdirect Australia has appointed Jo Willoughby to its board after a “merit-based” recruitment process endorsed by federal, state and territory governments.
Ms Willoughby has over 20 years’ experience in governance and executive management, and is currently non-executive director at Northrop Consulting Engineers. She has been interim CEO and executive chair at Insignia, board chair at Collins SBA, COO of Infocus.
“I welcome Ms Willoughby to Healthdirect,” said board chair Professor Christine Kilpatrick.
“She joins Healthdirect at an exciting time as we lean into many challenges including an aging population, AI health revolution, evolving workforce expectations, to ensure our business remains strong yet flexible so we can continue servicing the health needs of governments and individuals.”
CEO Bettina McMahon said Healthdirect was “privileged to have such an accomplished leader join us on our mission to achieve a healthier Australia”.
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I-screen names new CAIO
Senior global technology executive Brad Ryan has been appointed as Australian health tech i-screen’s new chief AI officer.
Mr Ryan spent the past five years at Amazon Web Services as its APJ data and AI partner lead and other roles. Before that he spent 25 years with Accenture, the last three years as its managing director as AI lead of its technology division.
i-screen began 10 years ago as a direct-to-consumer pathology testing company and has grown across Australia and Asia Pacific with expansion in other regions.
“What the team at i-screen has achieved over the last decade has been outstanding but the reason I decided to join i-screen is not because of what they have done so far but because of where they are headed,” Mr Ryan said on LinkedIn.
“i-screen is a hugely innovative company that is in the process of transitioning from DTC pathology testing company into an AI-powered health intelligence platform.
“The opportunity to use AI to help people (including me) improve their health and longevity, is truly inspiring.
“A lot of organisations talk about AI in health, but very few have real-world scale, trusted clinical frameworks and years of execution behind them.
“i-screen does.
“The opportunity here is to use data and AI not as an abstract capability, but as a practical tool for improving people’s lives – helping people understand risk earlier, supporting better decisions and ultimately improving long-term health outcomes.
“I have to say that I could not be more excited to have joined i-screen at this stage of its journey and I am looking forward to some exciting times ahead.”
It’s a new role at i-screen, with the company announcement saying Mr Ryan would drive AI, data and technology strategy, with a “mandate to embed artificial intelligence more deeply across the company’s screening programs, analytics capabilities and population health initiatives”.
Team assembled to review Tassie VAD laws
The Tasmanian government has picked Professor Kate Warner, Professor Ben White, and Professor Michael Ashby to review the state’s voluntary assisted dying laws.
Professor Warner is a former governor of Tasmania and an emeritus professor of law at the University of Tasmania. She has also served as director of the Tasmania Law Reform Institute, Dean of the Faculty of Law, and on numerous boards, including the Sentencing Advisory Council (Tasmania).
Professor White is professor of end-of-life law and regulation at the Queensland University of Technology. He recently completed an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship on holistic approaches to regulating voluntary assisted dying.
Professor Ashby is a professor of palliative care at the University of Tasmania and director of palliative care at Royal Hobart Hospital.