BIO
Dr Russell-Weisz graduated as a doctor in Scotland but has spent the best part of his professional life in Western Australia.
After moving to Australia in 1993, he joined the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Broken Hill, and then moved to Western Australia, where, as a procedural General Practitioner and then Director of Medical Services, he served communities in regional and remote parts of Western Australia. The work gave him a special appreciation of the challenges faced by those delivering services in rural/remote parts of Western Australia and the unique responsibilities of our State’s health system in achieving equitable health outcomes.
Later, as Chief Executive of the North Metropolitan Health Service, he led the billion dollar redevelopment of the QEII Medical Centre while also overseeing the operations of three tertiary and three outer-metropolitan hospitals. Dr Russell-Weisz also led the commissioning of the State’s flagship $2 billion Fiona Stanley Hospital, which opened its doors to its first patients in late 2014.
As Director General, Dr Russell-Weisz has steered the public health system through a period of significant reform, which included the commissioning and opening of the Perth Children’s Hospital. Along with the WA Health Executive team, Dr Russell-Weisz is now responsible for delivering on the State Government’s Sustainable Health Review, which provides an ambitious blueprint for the delivery of high quality, safe and sustainable health care services for Western Australians over the next 10 years.
More recently, Dr Russell-Weisz continues to work with the Chief Health Officer and key stakeholders to quickly and effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring the best possible continuity of safe and effective health care for the Western Australian community.