Successful pursuit of MercyAscot’s vision to be New Zealand’s leading provider of health services, always delivered with excellence and value, depends upon every one of us having a powerful commitment to our work, and impactful leadership. The MercyAscot leadership team believe if you work with your whole heart, you will succeed, and they bring their wealth of knowledge and expertise in the national and international healthcare sector to their leadership roles.
Chief Executive Officer
As Chief Executive Officer of one of the New Zealand’s largest surgical providers, Ian provides leadership, operational and strategic direction for Mercy Hospital, Ascot Hospital and various services.
Ian joined MercyAscot in 2018. Previously, he held roles of: Chief Executive of a large New Zealand for profit hospital group, President of the New Zealand Private Hospitals Association, General Manager of a large Brisbane private hospital and a number of board positions. Prior to these positions, he had an extensive career in health informatics.
Ian graduated from Massey University with a first class honours degree in computer science. He later completed a postgraduate business diploma, also at Massey University. In 2005, Ian completed his doctorate in health management at QUT in Brisbane.
Group Chief Financial Officer
As MercyAscot’s Chief Financial Officer, Robert is responsible for the overall provision of MercyAscot’s core financial services and systems. He also plays a major role in the financial management of a number of businesses related to our parent company, Healthcare Holdings Limited (HHL) and in July 2018 was appointed as the HHL Group CFO. He also sits on a number of Boards for businesses related to HHL including MercyAscot (Ascot Hospitals and Clinics Limited).
Prior to working in healthcare, Robert held a number of senior roles in a variety of sectors including retail, banking and audit, both in New Zealand and in the UK.
Robert holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree and is a member of, and registered mentor, with the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (CA Designation)
Chief Operating Officer & Chief Nurse
As MercyAscot’s Chief Operating Officer & Chief Nurse, Maree is responsible for the operational leadership of our inpatient wards, operating rooms, pharmacy, afterhours advanced nursing team, and clinical education services. Her particular focus is to work with the operations workforce to identify opportunities for improved efficiency, communication, leadership, and culture.
Maree commenced her career in the health sector as a Registered General Obstetric Nurse working in both the surgical and ICU environments across the public and private sectors in Auckland. Maree has held a number of leadership positions in the clinical and operational areas of the business including the position of Professional Nurse Advisor for MercyAscot. She was appointed to the role of General Manager, Operations, in 2013.
Maree has completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Health Science with a focus on clinical leadership and the University of Auckland Business School’s Leadership Programme. She is currently a member of the Executive team of the New Zealand Private Surgical Hospitals Association (NZPSHA) and is a previous Chair of the NZPSHA Directors of Nursing group.
General Manager Patient Engagement & Quality
As MercyAscot’s General Manager Patient Engagement & Quality, Sarah is charged with consolidating and enhancing our reputation as a leading provider of healthcare services. She does this through leading the development and delivery of: quality, risk and health and safety frameworks; infection prevention and control; clinical informatics, and our project management office. Her particular focus is on transformation and improvement through her leadership of organisational change programmes such as the implementation of our integrated Electronic Medical Record (PAS/EMR), business intelligence, and engagement with staff in the accreditation and certification process.
Sarah has held senior change management and governance positions across a range of public sector entities, both in New Zealand and with the NHS in the UK. She has a clinical background in nursing and has completed post graduate studies in risk and project management.
General Manager Specialist Engagement
Kate is the General Manager of Specialist Engagement for MercyAscot and is responsible for developing the business approach to specialist partnering to ensure long-term, productive relationships with New Zealand’s leading specialists. This includes driving the adoption of innovative clinical and strategic commercial activities through business development and contract management functions.
She also leads the marketing and communications team to raise the profile of our specialists and clinics through healthcare marketing campaigns, and to develop & implement the MercyAscot corporate affairs, brand and communications strategy. Kate is passionate about healthcare and has over 16 years’ experience in commercial, sales, marketing, medical affairs, and leadership roles within the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry. After gaining her PhD in Immunology from the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, she quickly realised she wanted to be at the business edge of healthcare and grow her career commercially. She comes to us from GSK where she was the Head of Pharmaceutical Marketing and Hospital Sales, and an NZ Executive Team member.
General Manager People & Culture
Merran is the General Manager of People and Culture for MercyAscot Hospitals, Mercy Radiology and other parts of Healthcare Holdings Limited. She is responsible for our people strategy, our culture and employer brand, all HR policies and programmes, organisational change, recruitment and selection, remuneration, reward and recognition, diversity, developing our leaders, growing our talent and building career pathways, employment relations, consultancy advice, terms and conditions of employment and legal compliance. She comes to our organisation from IAG where she was the NZ Executive General Manager for People & Culture. Merran is a graduate of the University of Auckland, and has a diverse background, having led marketing, sales, product and strategy functions in corporates, joint-venture and business start-ups, driving transformational change and delivering market growth and performance.
Chief Information Officer
As Chief Information Officer for MercyAscot, Tony is responsible for the strategic direction and management of our information technology and communication systems. His team also provide IT Service Desk support for Mercy Radiology and the MercyAscot Head and Neck Service. Tony has over 25 years’ experience in ICS and a background in technology-based products and digital platforms, leading the way in the transformation required to bring these to life from a digital, commercial, security and people point of view. He has worked in a diverse range of organisations including St John Ambulance, Spark Digital, IBM and Allianz Insurance.
Chief Medical Officer
As Chief Medical Officer for MercyAscot, Andrew oversees our clinical governance, the quality of our medical and clinical practice, and our relationships with specialists. He also works with the wider Healthcare Holdings group to deliver value-based care solutions.
Andrew is a practicing respiratory physician and also holds the roles of Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Respiratory Physician at Waitemata DHB, along with the portfolios of Head of Facilities and Development, Information Technology, and Pacific and Asian health.