Hospital gains a country man
Fantastic: “The community is lucky to have a facility of this standard,” said new Gippsland Southern Health Service CEO, Mark Johnson.
MARK Johnson, the new CEO of Gippsland Southern Health Service (GSHS) describes taking over the reins of the organisation as a steep learning curve.
Getting to know how an organisation works and the people within it interact, is a big part of stepping onto any new job, particularly when the organisation employs 400 people.
Mr Johnson, is well acquainted with taking over the reins of large organisations and leaves one with the impression that GSHS is in highly experienced hands.
The new CEO’s work history backs up his words that he has no time for Melbourne.
After finishing secondary school at Maryvale High School in Morwell, Mr Johnson went to Melbourne to try out a few career fields but after two years returned to begin a Bachelor of Business at Federation University, Churchill majoring in accounting and economics.
His first post graduate position was as the finance manager for private health insurer, Yallourn Medical and Health Society, now known as Federation Health.
In 1994 he became finance manager at the Wangaratta hospital and in 1997, Director of Corporate Services with Echuca Regional Health.
Immediately prior to taking up his role as CEO of GSHS he was the CEO for Terang and Mortlake Health for 13 years.
Mark Johnson first knew of Leongatha as a place on the way to Inverloch.
In summer when the Johnson family sometimes holidayed in Inverloch they would come to the drive-in theatre in Leongatha.
His new role puts him in charge of 400 cleaning, catering, nursing and administration staff (which includes Korumburra).
“The new facility in Leongatha,” he said, “is fantastic.
Hand over: Mr Johnson is well acquainted with taking over the reins of large organisations. Gippsland Southern Health Service is in experienced hands.
“The community is lucky to have a facility of this standard.”
The hospital board is currently looking at the organisation’s mission statement and vision for the future in collaboration with the region’s other health services with the goal of ensuring the services provided are what the community wants and needs.
Mr Johnson said, “One of my goals is to ensure the hospital becomes known as a place where health professionals want to come to work.”
He is a surveyor for the Australia Council, an accrediting body which surveys hospital and health services in Australia as well as in Asia and the Pacific.
Safety and quality standards are reviewed against national standards.
Acting CEO Mark Petty handed the reins over on Friday, October 10 after a period helping Mark Johnson to settle in and has taken a well earned two week holiday before returning to Austin Health in Heidelberg.
Meanwhile Mrs Johnson and the younger of the couple’s two daughters are remaining in Echuca until the end of the school year and Tilly has completed her Year 10.
She is enrolled in the Leongatha Secondary College in 2015 and is passionate about the performing arts and theatre.
Nineteen year old Lucy is a first year International Studies student at RMIT.
Mrs Sue Johnson works in the library at the Terang College.
For their annual holiday for the last seven years the Johnsons have towed their caravan to the Adelaide beach suburb of Semaphore where the caravan park is right on the beach.
Each year they time being in Adelaide at the same time as The Tour Down Under.
Cycling is one of Mr Johnson’s passions.
He also enjoys playing the guitar, Blues music, cooking and reading crime fiction and autobiographies.
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