Our people
Rose Geden – Executive Director
Rose was appointed as Executive Director of the New Zealand Private Surgical Hospitals Association Inc. in October 2007. Previous roles held include Executive Officer of the NZ College of Physiotherapy Inc, positions in continuing medical education and vocational education at the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners and contract work. Rose is based in the Association’s office in Wellington.
Richard Whitney – President
Richard Whitney Richard is the Chief Executive Officer of Mercy Hospital Dunedin Ltd, an entity of the Sisters of Mercy New Zealand Ministries Trust. He is a graduate of both Otago and Massey universities and has over 30 years health experience, across Public and Private, Primary and Secondary sectors in New Zealand and overseas. In addition to his CEO role, he also holds Directorships with Mercy Heart Centre, Mercy Cancer Care and is a Director of NZ Red Cross. Richard was elected to NZPSHA Executive in 2011, taking the lead in Health Workforce Development portfolio.
Blair Roxborough – Vice-President
Blair Roxborough is the Chief Executive Officer at St George's Hospital, Director St George's Cancer Care Centre, Director Heart Centre 2003 and Director RESS JV Ltd.
Prior to joining St George's Hospital, Blair held executive leadership positions in the Tourism sector in New Zealand and overseas, most recently in Melbourne where he was responsible for both luxury and main stream hotel accommodation brands in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania.
Blair is a Member of Certified Practicing Accountants (CPA) and a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Directors (GAICD).
Aimee Bourke
Aimee Bourke joined MercyAscot in July 2023 as Chief Operating Officer.
She is passionate about the New Zealand healthcare system and fostering the ability for New Zealanders to have the best possible access to care. She brings almost 20 years of experience in the healthcare sector, having an excellent understanding of local and international healthcare systems as well as expertise in developing and implementing strategies to improve the quality, cost and experience of patient care.
Aimee comes to MercyAscot from the role of General Manager for Auckland Radiation Oncology (ARO). Prior to joining ARO, she spent 17 years at Southern Cross in a variety of roles for both the Healthcare and Health Society businesses, from the management of communications, government relations, and charitable initiatives, to growing and leading the Southern Cross Affiliated Provider programme and value based care initiatives.
Deb Boyd
Deb is currently the Chief Executive Officer at Ormiston Surgical and Endoscopy Ltd (OSEL), a private surgical hospital located in Flat Bush in Auckland. She is an experienced health service leader with extensive experience from within both public and private sectors. Prior to joining OSEL, Deb was the Chief Executive Officer at Auckland Eye Ltd, a private ophthalmology provider in Auckland for 6 years.
Deb has a keen interest in technology and is a certified health informatician for Australasia (CHIA) and has served on the Board of Health Informatics New Zealand since 2016.
She is also a registered nurse and has a Master’s in Health Services Management.
Her career experience includes executive leadership, governance, operational management, systems improvement, culture development and change management, clinical nursing care and leadership, informatics, and e-Health.
Deb has been a member of the Institute of Directors since 2016 and her governance experience includes time serving on the board of Blind and Low Vision New Zealand, Partnership Health PHO, The Rock Church Board and on the HiNZ Board. She has also been part of the HIRA Clinical Reference group for Te Whatu Ora.
Janet Keys
General Manager Norfolk Southern Cross Ltd – Grace Hospital
Janet is a hospital trained RN, and she went on to complete BN and PG Cert in Nursing (Wintec) before completing a Masters in Health Service Management (Massey). As General Manager of Grace Hospital, which is owned by a joint venture partnership between Acurity Health Group and Southern Cross Hospitals, Janet utilises her nursing background to ensure that hospital services are delivered effectively and with attention to detail for individual patients.
Janet strongly believes in ongoing professional development, and supported the development of a Nurse Practitioner Internship programme at Grace Hospital which produced two NPs in recent years. New Zealand’s changing health environment requires us to develop a flexible workforce and Janet is supportive of challenging the status quo to encourage the development of different approaches to deliver health services to achieve best outcomes for patients.
Jackey Marriott
Chief Executive – Boulcott Hospital
My passion is health! Having worked in the health sector for 40years and across many different roles and organisations I believe I have something to offer. I have spent a large part of my career in Management and leadership roles with ACC, Southern Cross Hospitals, Whakarongorau and Te Whatu Ora – being integral to the NZ Health Plan; Te Pae Tata and now at Boulcott Hospital as CEO. I believe I have something unique to contribute. I’m also a big fan of change for the better. It’s exhausting but it’s the only way to move forward.
Fiona Michel
Chief Executive – Braemar Hospital, Hamilton
Fiona has public and private sector experience within technology, banking, insurance, police, health, property, primary industry and utilities as an executive, director and consultant working with businesses in New Zealand and overseas. She has led significant strategic change programmes to deliver business transformation and to resolve complex and compliance issues in highly regulated organisations. Fiona has won awards in New Zealand and Australia for achievement in human resources, leadership, culture, ethics and industrial relations, and holds a Master of Business Administration in addition to being an alumnus of Harvard Business School. Fiona is a Chartered Member of the NZ Institute of Directors (CMInstD) and the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and a Chartered Fellow and Non-Executive Director of the Australian Human Resources Institute (FCPHR) an industry organisation representing well over 15,000 members. Fiona is an Independent Director for Fortuna Group, a Southland-based dairy farming entity and a member of the Living Wage Movement’s Principal Partner Council.
Prior to joining Braemar Hospital in late 2021, Fiona was seconded from her corporate executive role by Dr Ashley Bloomfield into the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Immunisation Programme to lead the identification and development of new vaccinators and manage health stakeholder relationships across the Northern Region. Fiona was Chief HR Officer at Auckland DHB for several years, and in 2022 was invited to join the Te Whatu Ora/Te Aka Whai Ora Workforce Taskforce as an Independent Expert Advisor.
Joanne Bell – Co-Chair Nurse and Clinical Leaders Group
I am a dedicated Quality Manager. With a background in nursing, mostly in the Post Anaesthetic Care Unit setting, I love to ensure the hospital's quality management systems are top-notch.
My passion lies in fostering a safety culture that prioritises staff well-being and empowerment. I have recently helped launch a well-being app at Ormiston to help us implement wellbeing initiatives for staff that are meaningful and on par with what we need. I believe in making systems work for the staff, not the other way around, and love to encourage people to be their best and perform at their peak.
I am so excited to have been given this opportunity as Co-Chair on Nurse and Clinical Leaders Committee and look forward to networking and bringing meaningful content and discussion to our meetings.
In my spare time I love to be in the ocean and challenge myself with Hot Pilates!
Steph Feldbrugge – Co-Chair Nurse and Clinical Leaders Group
Steph is the Colleague and Capacity Manager at St George’s and her areas of focus within this role are wellbeing and culture, maximising colleague potential, payroll, and operational excellence within the HR portfolio.
Steph has a passion for working with people particularly in areas of developing leaders at all levels within St George’s and building a culture where people love to come to work. Her experience covers a wide range of industries including engineering banking, insurance and FMCG. She is also very passionate about her community involvement with the New Zealand Spinal Trust.
Marie Russell – Co-Chair Nurse and Clinical Leaders Group
Marie Russell is the Safety, Quality and Capability Manager at Evolution Southern Cross Ltd – Grace Hospital, Tauranga.
Marie is a registered nurse with over 20 years’ experience in clinical practice. Marie has held various leadership roles, including OR, Day Surgery and Endoscopy, Clinical Education and Quality. She has an MBA gained through the University of Manchester, UK.
Marie's current role influences continuous improvement, providing support to management and facilitating teams to ensure a positive patient and whanau experience. Her focus is to develop strong clinical leadership and ensure safe, patient focused care.