Megan O'Shannessy ... new appointee on the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service Board

May 17, 2013

All directors – including South Burnett councillor Cheryl Dalton and Kingaroy businessman Terry Fleischfresser – have been reappointed to the Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service Board.

Plus there’s one new face …

Board Chair Mike Horan said today he was pleased to announce that highly experienced nurse and health administrator Ms Megan O’Shannessy had been appointed to the Board.

“Megan is a registered nurse and midwife and many people would know her from her years as Director of Nursing at Warwick Hospital,” Mr Horan said.

“After 30 years with Queensland Health, Megan took up the position of Director of the Prevocational General Practice Program at Queensland Rural Medical Education earlier this year.

“We look forward to working with Megan and will greatly value her input into board deliberations.”

Ms O’Shannessy said she was excited to begin work with the DDHHS Board and having worked with several board members over many years felt she could “hit the ground running”.

“I am passionate about rural health care and I’m keen to work with the board on innovative solutions to recruitment and retention issues as well as infrastructure,” she said.

Ms O’Shannessy began her nursing career in 1982 as a student nurse at the Royal Brisbane Hospital.

Her post-graduate years were spent in paediatric intensive care at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

Following her midwifery year at Kirwan Hospital in Townsville she took up the relieving role of Director of Nursing at Blackall-Tambo and Isisford for 18 months.

Over a 25 year rural nursing career Ms O’Shannessy has been the Director of Nursing at Thargomindah, Cunnamulla, Dirranbandi, St George and Warwick Hospitals.

She was a member of the Queensland Nursing Council from 1998 to 2000.

She completed a Bachelor of Nursing at the University of Southern Queensland in 1996 and is at present completing her Masters in Public Health at the James Cook University.

 

DDHS 2013-14 Board Appointments

The eight DDHHS board directors re-appointed were:

Dr Dennis Campbell (Toowoomba), Cr Cheryl Dalton (Kingaroy), Dr Ross Hetherington (Warwick), Dr Ian Keys (Dalby), Dr Jeff Prebble (Toowoomba), Ms Marie Pietsch (Inglewood),  Mr Terry Fleischfresser (Kingaroy) and  Ms Trish Leddington-Hill (Chinchilla).

The DDHHS area stretches from Goondiwindi in the south to Taroom in the north west and north to Kingaroy and Murgon. The DDHHS boundaries take in one major regional hospital (Toowoomba Hospital), 19 rural hospital facilities, three outpatients clinics, seven aged care facilities plus a range of mental health, community and oral health services.

The Board meets every month and every second meeting is held in one of the rural centres within the DDHHS area.