ONE OF the key people now in the race to be the next chief executive of the Health Service Executive (HSE) is Australian healthcare manager Mike Reid, it has emerged.
Mr Reid has overseen health reform projects across Australia and is the director general of Queensland Health. He was also once director general of New South Wales Health and has worked as chief of staff to the office of the minister for health and ageing.
In addition, he has international experience, having worked with the World Health Organisation to improve health services in New Zealand, Hong Kong, Cambodia and East Timor.
His name has been mentioned as one of the front-runners to succeed Prof Brendan Drumm, since former head of the State’s cancer control programme Prof Tom Keane withdrew from the race last week. It is understood there are two other candidates in the race and the final selection may yet be some weeks away.
While it was claimed Prof Keane had withdrawn from the competition over a failure to get assurances from the HSE board about resources and other issues, Minister for Health Mary Harney said on Tuesday she understood he had opted out for “personal and family reasons”.
Prof Keane has returned to Canada from where he was seconded for two years to reorganise cancer services in the Republic.
The HSE chief executive post will become vacant in August when Prof Drumm finishes his five-year term.
Meanwhile a two-day planned strike in hospitals across the State next week was called off last night as a result of the agreement trade unions signed up to in talks with the Government on public sector pay and reform on Tuesday.