Board of Directors
Arthur Skipitaris (Chair):
Arthur is currently the General Manager, Corporate Services for the Wellington Shire Council. Prior to this role, Arthur was a senior executive for the Finance Shared Services Division of General Electric, Australia and New Zealand. He was also the General Manager of Australia Post’s Shared Services Division and has worked in a number of senior banking and finance roles.
Arthur holds a Bachelor of Business double major in Accounting and Economics, is a CPA, a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Lauren Carey (Vice Chair):
Lauren has worked in the power generation and mining sector for the last eight years, employed by ENGIE as the External Communications Manager for the company’s Hazelwood asset and holds a Bachelor in Public Relations. Born and schooled in Sale, Lauren has significant links to the Wellington Shire and is passionate about using her skills in corporate communications, stakeholder engagement, strategic leadership and governance to benefit the patients, residents and clients of Central Gippsland Health Service now and into the future.
Jim Vivian:
Jim is currently employed as Executive Officer at Gippsland Sports Academy. Prior to this he worked as Executive Director of Academic Programs, General Manager of Industrial Operations at GippsTAFE. Jim holds a Diploma in Frontline Management, a Graduate Diploma in Educational Administration, an Advanced Certificate in Management Skills and a Diploma of Technical Teaching.
Abbas Khambati:
With over 15 years of senior and executive management experience within the public and private sectors, Abbas Khambati is an experienced director providing and leading Business Support functions at Monash Health. He is an experienced Board director within not-for-profits and represents Regional Health Services as a Board Member with Victorian Healthcare Association. His experience and skill-set include leadership, governance, risk management and delivery of financial improvement initiatives. As a Graduate with the Institute of Company Directors, Chartered Accountant and with a Masters in Health Services Management, Abbas is renowned for his strategic and analytical thinking, business & negotiation skills and risk analysis & management. He is inspired by values of respect, excellence and integrity.
Glenys Butler:
Glenys recently retired from full time employment following a career spanning 18 years in Local Government. All of this time was been spent with Wellington Shire Council where she has worked in the community sector as Manager Community Development, Manager Community Strengthening, Emergency Manager, General Manager Liveability and General Manager Community & Culture. Glenys originally trained as a nurse and has worked in the community health sector and leisure industry. Glenys is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, has a bachelor of Social Welfare degree and in 2008 completed a PhD with Monash University focussed on organisational response to community decision making.
Jenny Dempster:
Jenny is currently the Associate Program Director of the Acute & Aged Medicine Program, Box Hill Hospital and Director of Nursing, Acute Medicine, Eastern Health. She has a Masters in Public Health – Health Service Management and a Bachelor of Applied Science – Advanced Clinical Nursing. Jenny has extensive management experience in both the Public and Private Health Sectors. Jenny brings knowledge and skills related to asset management, clinical governance, executive management, human resources management, finance, risk management, information and communication technology.
Gerry Watts:
Gerry has a strong grasp of hospital board governance and an extensive history in procurement, his most recent role being that of Regional Procurement Advisor with Health Purchasing Victoria, which supports a strong understanding of governance, process and probity. Gerry is a competent and experienced Board member who is enthusiastic about his contribution to Central Gippsland Health Service. He holds an Advanced Diploma in Hospitality Management, a partial Masters of Information Systems and AICD Clinical Governance.
Claire Miller:
Claire has over 10 years of board level experience across the public and commercial sectors with a focus on the utilities, resources, infrastructure and energy industries. In her executive capacity she has held the role of General Counsel and Company Secretary managing governance, compliance, risk and audit functions across a range of industry sectors including energy, infrastructure, gas, utilities, resources, and property in government, ASX and private entities.
Helen McConachy:
Helen is a Registered Nurse with Graduate Certificates in Neonatal Nursing and Health Service Management. She has held various positions including afterhours hospital manager, nurse unit manager in neonatal intensive care, nurse unit manager in adult general medicine, and associate nurse unit manager in mental health. Helen is currently the Infection Control Coordinator and Afterhours hospital manager at Gippsland Southern Health Service.
Rochelle Wrigglesworth:
Rochelle is a member of the Institute of Company Directors, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and New Zealand, and a Registered Company Auditor with ASIC. After working at Pricewaterhouse Coopers and being a Principal/partner at Crowe Horwath for many years, Rochelle co-founded ForeFront in 2013 and has been providing business plus strategic advice, virtual CFO, and audit services since then. Rochelle lives in Gippsland with her family, is passionate about helping the community and contributing towards the future prosperity of our region. She has a deep understanding of the Gippsland region’s specific issues and a detailed knowledge of local government, health, education and water sectors, plus aged care, gaming, manufacturing, aboriginal, and not for profit entities having working with these sectors for over 20 years. Rochelle is also committed to the success of small to medium size businesses in the region and enjoys assisting entrepreneurial and start up entities. Rochelle is the Chair of the Board of the Committee for Gippsland and the Chair of the Financial, Audit and Risk Committee. She is also an independent member of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Royal Botanical Gardens Victoria and Central Gippsland Health Service.