MLHD Senior Appointments

New senior staff members:

• Ms Carla Bailey to Executive Director Operations for the MLHD
• Professor Lenert Bruce to General Manager, Wagga Wagga Base Hospital
• Ms Tegan Reid to General Manager, Rural Operations
• Ms Alison Nikitas to Director Public Health for the Murrumbidgee and Southern NSW Local Health Districts

MLHD Chief Executive Jill Ludford said all four health professionals have extensive experience and their appointments will continue to benefit the local communities across the district.

Ms Bailey, who took up her new position in January 2023, manages the strategic and operational delivery of healthcare services within MLHD and has responsibility across all hospitals as well as a range of other clinical and corporate services.

“The role is more strategic and includes the planning, development and oversight of strategic and business plans, service improvement and innovation, business and clinical service strategies and relationship management,” Ms Ludford said.

“Ms Bailey is an innovative and strategic leader and we are pleased she can continue to apply her breadth of skills and experience in this new role.”

“I am looking forward to continuing to work with staff and community across MLHD to ensure the delivery of quality healthcare to our communities,” Ms Bailey said.\

Professor Bruce is a familiar face to many through his role as interim General Manager, Wagga Wagga Base Hospital and Executive Director of Medical Services.

“Professor Bruce brings a wealth of experience and knowledge which will allow him to continue to lead the Wagga Wagga Base Hospital Executive team”, Ms Ludford said.

He joined MLHD as an anaesthetist in 2007, having worked in South Africa and the United Kingdom previously, and was appointed as the Executive Director of Medical Services in 2020. 

Professor Bruce will also continue as the Executive Director Medical Services for MLHD. He began in the General Manager role on 17 April 2023.

“I have enjoyed my role as interim General Manager of Wagga Wagga Base Hospital and am looking forward to continuing my role into the future,” Professor Bruce said.

Ms Reid will be a familiar face to many at the MLHD through her former role as District Allied Health Manager and, more recently, Acting Director of Clinical Operations – Sector West. 

She has developed strong relationships with key stakeholders during her interim coverage of the Director Clinical Operations – Sector West position and brings a wealth of knowledge” Ms Ludford said.

Ms Reid is an experienced manager and leader having worked across various health roles and is passionate about community engagement and integrated service models. 

This new position will oversee all six MLHD Clusters in addition to the renal and cancer streams and the District’s Multipurpose Services’ aged care portfolio. Ms Reid, who will be based in the Wagga Wagga District Office, officially started in the new role on 17 April 2023.

“I am looking forward to working with staff across the MLHD to provide quality care to our patients,” she said.

Ms Nikitas brings extensive experience in public health to her role. Most recently, Ms Nikitas has been the public face of MLHD’s campaigns to raise awareness of mosquito-borne viruses.

“I am keen to continue working with the Public Health Unit, and MLHD staff more broadly, to help safeguard the health of our community,” she said.

Ms Ludford has welcomed Ms Nikitas’s appointment. “Ms Nikitas has brought a wealth of public health experience to the role,” she said.

The MLHD spans 125,243 sq. km across southern New South Wales, stretching from the Snowy Mountains in the east to the plains of Hillston in the northwest and all the way along the Victorian border.

As the largest employer in the region, MLHD has more than 5000 healthcare staff working across 33 hospitals and 12 primary health care centres.