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 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.
Chief Operating Officer
As MercyAscot’s Chief Operating Officer, Aimee is responsible for the operational leadership of our inpatient wards, operating rooms, endoscopy, pharmacy and allied services, after-hours advanced nursing team, and the clinical learning and development team.
Aimee is passionate about the New Zealand healthcare system and fostering the ability for all New Zealanders to have the best possible access to care.
She brings 20 years of experience in the healthcare sector, having an excellent understanding of local and international healthcare systems as well as expertise in developing and implementing strategies to improve the quality, cost, and experience of patient care.
Aimee came to us from within the Healthcare Holdings Limited (HHL) Group where she had been General Manager for Auckland Radiation Oncology (ARO). Prior to joining ARO, Aimee spent 17 years at Southern Cross in a variety of roles for both the Healthcare and Health Society businesses, from the management of communications, government relations, and charitable initiatives, to growing and leading the Southern Cross Affiliated Provider programme and value-based care initiatives.
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.
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).
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 came to us 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.
General Manager Transformation and Business Improvement
As MercyAscot’s General Manager Transformation and Business Improvement, Sarah leads the strategy, planning and execution of MercyAscot’s transformation and business improvement programme, with the goal of keeping MercyAscot a leading organisation that delights its patients, specialists, shareholders and staff alike. Sarah is also responsible for ensuring MercyAscot operates effectively, safely and efficiently, and continues to innovate for market leadership and competitive advantage.
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 United Kingdom. She has a clinical background in nursing and has completed post graduate studies in risk and project management.
Chief Medical Officer
As Chief Medical Officer for MercyAscot, Andrew oversees the clinical governance, the quality of our medical and clinical practice, and the relationships with specialists. He also works with the wider Healthcare Holdings Limited group to deliver value-based healthcare solutions and is a member of the Healthcare Holdings Limited executive team.
Andrew is a practicing respiratory physician and has held a number of executive positions within DHBs.
General Manager Commercial and Partnerships
Kirsty is the General Manager Commercial and Partnerships for MercyAscot. She 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. Kirsty also leads the Marketing and Communications team to develop and implement MercyAscot’s marketing and corporate communications strategy, and to raise the profile of our specialists and clinics through healthcare marketing campaigns.
Kirsty is passionate about healthcare having originally trained as a pharmacist. She brings over 17 years of experience from commercial, medical affairs, marketing, and leadership roles within the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry. Kirsty comes to us from Communio, a privately held health services company that delivers coronial services throughout New Zealand, where she has been the General Manager for three years. Before that, she had held leadership roles at GlaxoSmithKline as well as US biopharmaceutical company Celgene Ltd.
Outside work, Kirsty enjoys spending time with her kids, playing tennis at her local club, getting out on the Hauraki gulf, and supporting her local community where she is a board member of Coeliac New Zealand and Harbour Hospice.
Chief Information Officer & Chief Information Security Officer
Hamish is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for MercyAscot. He leads the development and implementation of the hospital-wide information and communications technology as well as the coordinated delivery of Information & Communication Systems (ICS) support.
Hamish is responsible for evaluating planning, and implementing new information and communication systems and infrastructure that will lead MercyAscot into the future. In his function as CISO, Hamish works together with the wider Healthcare Holdings Limited (HHL) group ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of data and information.
Hamish is passionate about helping organisations and teams improve technology operations, and aligning solutions and priorities to key organisational goals through effective stakeholder engagement, ensuring robust IT governance, and by building effective team culture. He highlights the importance of cybersecurity and its impact on their business practices. Hamish has 20 years' experience in Information Technology (IT) across both the corporate and tertiary sectors, bringing extensive knowledge of IT infrastructures and systems. He joined MercyAscot from Te Pukenga – Unitec where he held the role of Director of Information Technology.
Chief Nurse
As MercyAscot’s Chief Nurse, Maree is responsible for our professional nursing and clinical practice, continually striving to raise its quality and safety to deliver our vision of world-class care.
The Chief Nurse is the professional nursing leader for MercyAscot, setting the tone of world class excellence in nursing practice, modelling behaviour, advocating for the nursing profession, providing leadership in the development and knowledge of nursing practice, and ensuring MercyAscot is New Zealand’s most desirable hospital for our nursing workforce to practice.
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 had an amazing career with MercyAscot in a number of leadership positions in the clinical and operational areas of the business including the position of Professional Nurse Advisor. 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.