Webinar: Rethinking healthcare systems in times of COVID-19: lessons, challenges and opportunities 

This event was held on Friday 16 October 2020

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COVID-19 has had a significant impact on our society. Healthcare systems have been highly impacted, requiring governments around the world to implement an extraordinary set of measures to contain the pandemic and sustain the economy.

Will the world post COVID-19 be the same as we knew it before? What will our healthcare systems look like in the future? A panel of experts and global leaders from industry and academia will provide insights and  trace possible scenarios on the future of our healthcare systems, and the challenges and opportunities ahead. The webinar with be chaired by the University of Newcastle’s Professor of Health Economics, Management and PolicyFrancesco Paolucci.

Register here

Event Opening (11:00am - 11:15am)

Professor Alex Zelinsky AO,
Vice Chancellor and President, University of Newcastle

Professor Francesco Paolucci
University of Newcastle & University of Bologna

Presentations (11:15am - 11:45am)

Mark Fitzgibbon,
Chief Executive, nib health fund

Michael DiRienzo,
Chief Executive Officer, Hunter New England Local Health District

Professor Frances Kay-Lambkin,
Acting Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation), University of Newcastle

Panel Discussion (11:45am - 12:10pm)

Dr Stephen Duckett,
Health Program Director, The Grattan Institute

Professor Elizabeth Sullivan,
Acting Pro-Vice Chancellor Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle

Dr Emilio Santelices,
Former Minister of Health and academic at University of Chile, School of Public Health

Event Closing (12:10pm - 12:15pm)

Professor Francesco Paolucci
University of Newcastle & University of Bologna

Meet our experts

Dr Francesco Paolucci, Professor of Health Economics, University of Newcastle, University of Bologna

Before joining the University of Newcastle, Prof. Paolucci was Head of Health Policy at Sir Walter Murdoch School of Public Policy and International Affairs, Murdoch University, Australia. He was formerly the Chief Advisor on Health Reforms to the Minister of Health in Chile in 2019 and is a current member of the Italian Technical Committee for Allocation of National Health Budget. Prof. Paolucci has published over 60 academic peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and book reviews in a wide array of academic journals and presses, and in different languages.

Mark Fitzgibbon, Chief Executive, nib health fund

Mark joined nib in October 2002 as Chief Executive Officer. In 2007 as Managing Director, he led nib through its demutualisation and listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) progressing to the ASX100 in 2019. Mark is a Director of nib holdings limited as well as many of its subsidiary companies, and is also a member of the Nomination Committee. Mark is currently a Director of Private Healthcare Australia. He has previously served as CEO of both the national and NSW peak industry bodies for licensed clubs as well as holding several CEO positions in local government. He holds a Masters in Business Administration (UTS) and Masters in Arts (MGSM) and is a fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Dr Stephen Duckett, Health Program Director, The Grattan Institute

Dr Stephen Duckett has held top operational and policy leadership positions in health care in Australia and Canada, including as Secretary of what is now the Commonwealth Department of Health. He has a reputation for creativity, evidence-based innovation and reform in areas ranging from the introduction of activity-based funding for hospitals to new systems of accountability for the safety of hospital care. An economist, he is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.

Michael DiRienzo, Chief Executive Officer, Hunter New England Local Health District

Michael DiRienzo is responsible for all services across the district from small rural community health centres to major tertiary referral hospitals. With 17,000 staff and an expenditure budget in excess of $2.5 billion per annum, Hunter New England Health provides services to a community of more than 920,370 people across an area of 130,000 square kilometres.

Professor Elizabeth Sullivan, Acting Pro-Vice Chancellor Faculty of Health and Medicine, University of Newcastle 

Prof. Sullivan is a passionate research leader who is committed to improving health equity for vulnerable women of reproductive age, particularly those who have severe and rare conditions in pregnancy or who are in the criminal justice system. She has an impressive research track record that includes over 200 internationally peer-reviewed publications comprising Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and World Health Organisation (WHO) reports, and over $20 million in research and contract funding as a chief investigator. Prof. Sullivan has served extensively by invitation on national and international government committees related to research and is a former member of the NHMRC Council (2015-2018) and has a track record of highly successful national and international collaborations. She led UTS’s successful Athena SWAN pilot that was awarded a Bronze Award in 2018.

Professor Frances Kay-Lambkin, Acting Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation), University of Newcastle 

Over the past 15 years, Frances has worked in a clinical research capacity with people experiencing psychotic disorders, depression, personality disorders, and alcohol/other drug use problems. Her main research activity has been on the development and clinical trial of computer- and internet-delivered treatments for people with co-occurring mental health and alcohol/other drug use problems. In 2016, she became Co-Director of the Mental Health Hub of the University of Newcastle's Priority Research Centre in Brain and Mental Health (in partnership with Professor Sally Chan). She is the former President of the International Society for Research on Internet Interventions; the peak international body representing research in technology in health and related disciplines. She has been appointed as Chair of the Research Review Committee for Orygen/Human Ethics Advisory Group for the Centre for Youth Mental Health (UniMelb). She is part of the senior leadership team at the University of Sydney's Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use.

Dr Emilio Santelices, Former Minister of Health and academic at University of Chile, School of Public Health

Dr. Emilio Santelices Cuevas has been former Minister of Health.

He is a surgeon with a specialty in Cardiovascular Anesthesiology and Transplantation from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and has a PhD in Public Health from the University of Chile. He served as an academic at the Dr. Salvador Allende School of Public Health of the University of Chile. He has also been a Fellow in Cardiovascular and Research at the University of Alabama, Birmingham (United States). From 1983 to 2017 he was Medical Director of the ZurichFinancialGroup, advising on the design of new health insurance products, risk selection and design of evaluation methodologies. He served in various medical positions at the Las Condes Clinic, including Director of Medical Management, Deputy Director of Planning and Development, and Head of the Department of Cardiovascular Diseases. Between 2010 and 2014 he was an advisor to the Department of Strategic Development of the Ministry of Health, collaborating in projects for continuous improvement and quality evaluation for hospitals and primary health clinics. The following year, he served as an advisor to Fonasa, leading the team in charge of modifying the payment mechanisms. Before assuming this challenge, he was Chairman of the Board of the Corporación Médicos para Chile.