North West Hospital and Health Service (North West HHS) is delighted to announce Sean Birgan as the new Health Service Chief Executive (HSCE) for North West HHS.

Mr Birgan is a highly experienced health executive and registered nurse with 39 years’ experience in Australia and abroad. Mr Birgan was initially appointed as the acting chief operating officer in July 2022 and has been the interim North West HHS HSCE
since November 2022.

Board Chair Cheryl Vardon said Mr Birgan has positively contributed to further developing remote health care across North West Queensland and embodied the North West HHS values.

“Mr Birgan has done an exceptional job leading the health service as interim HSCE these past seven months, and I am pleased to welcome him to the role officially,” Ms Vardon said.

“In addition to continued engagement with consumers, community and stakeholders, Mr Birgan has achieved many positive outcomes for the health service, including establishing a surgical service consultant surgeon rotation with Metro South HHS
based in Mount Isa, implementing the Health Equity Strategy, securing funds for the implementation of the patient flow manager system, approving plans for the building of new replacement health facilities at various locations within the North West, and the
implementation of the nurse/paramedic workforce trial in Camooweal.”

Ms Vardon said Mr Birgan holds postgraduate qualifications in critical care nursing and a Master of Health Management. Past roles across his extensive career include covid system response lead for Queensland Health, where he coordinated the state’s
COVID-19 operational response and his leadership at the Sanglah Hospital in Bali, Indonesia, where he commissioned a critical care and burns unit as part of the Bali Memorial Package after the Bali bombing.

“I look forward to continuing to work with Sean to lead the delivery of safe, high-quality services for the people of the North West.”