Our People

Associate Professor Matthew Gray is General Practitioner at Schwarz Family Practice in Elderslie and as well as SWSPHN Chair, is also Deputy Chair of the South Western Sydney Local Health District Board.

A/Prof Gray was recognised for his long-term and ongoing contribution to community health with a Medal of the Order of Australia on Australia Day in 2022, a fitting recognition of his passion and commitment to the health of local residents.

He also dedicates his time to working with the African AIDS Foundation along with his wife and family.

Professor Jenny Reath was the Foundation Peter Brennan Chair of General Practice at Western Sydney University School of Medicine from 2010 – 2022. She is passionate about Aboriginal Health, having worked for 30 years in rural and urban Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, most recently as a part-time GP at Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation from 2017- 2022.

Professor Reath is a member of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Faculty.

Karen Edwards is the Clinical Director at Gidget Foundation Australia, and brings previous experience from both public and private sector roles in health management, governance and clinical psychology to her Director role at SWSPHN. Karen is committed to enabling excellence in health service delivery through system safety, good governance and sound risk management.

Current professional memberships include the Australian Psychological Society, the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and the Australian College of Health Service Managers.

Gidget Foundation team profile

Dr Ken McCroary is the owner, Director and Principal at Macarthur General Practice, member of the Council of General Practice of the Australian Medical Association (Federal) and regional representative for South Western Sydney on the NSW & ACT Faculty Board of Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP).

He is a member of RACGP Expert Committee for Quality Care, Chair of Sydney South West GP Link, Chair of the NSW Council of General Practice of the Australian Medical Association (NSW), Conjoint Lecturer, School of Medicine at Western Sydney University and Conjoint Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of NSW.

Dr Andrew McDonald has been a paediatrician in Campbelltown since 1990, after training in both Australia and the UK.

He works in a GP-based practice one day per week at Tharawal Aboriginal Health service and is hospital-based the rest of the week. As well as a busy clinical practice, he teaches medical students at both WSU and UNSW, teaches Advanced Paediatric life support courses, and is an examiner for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

He is a former NSW state MP for Macquarie Fields (2007 to 2015) and served as Parliamentary Secretary for Health (2008-2011) and Shadow Health Minister (2011 – 2014).

His main interest is working to reduce health inequalities and to ensure local patients have fair access to appropriate care.

John Adam is a solicitor and Managing Partner at Marsdens Law Group specialising in commercial and property law.

Mr Adam is an active member of Liverpool Rotary Club, Secretary of the Macarthur Club, Past President of the Macarthur Law Society, and Past Chair of the Mater Dei School Board. He continues supporting Mater Dei as a Committee Member.

Mr Adam played first grade rugby league for the North Sydney Bears between 1976 and 1984, captaining the team during the 1981 to 1983 seasons. He was a selector and member of the North Sydney Bears Board between 1991 and 2000, as well as serving as President of the Rugby League Players Association from 1985 to 1990.

He is married with 4 lovely daughters, lives locally, and is passionate about the growth and opportunities in South-West Sydney.

Sonia Marshall has a 30-year career in NSW Health, starting as an ICU nurse at Griffith Base Hospital, before working in a range of leadership roles in rural, regional and urban settings.

She joined South Western Sydney Local Health District in 2016, initially as Director Nursing and Midwifery, where she focused on transforming care and experiences for the workforce, patients and community.

As Incident Controller for SWSLHD’s COVID-19 Emergency Operations Centre, her remarkable leadership ensured the safety of staff and the diverse community throughout the fast-moving and everchanging response.

Sonia is also passionate about the future of healthcare, through teaching and mentoring, and fostering research. She established the South Western Sydney Nursing and Midwifery Research Alliance, partnering with the Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research and seven universities and is Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Nursing and Midwifery at WSU and Honorary Principal Fellow, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health at UoW.

She has completed an MBA, a BSc (Nursing) and studies in Intensive Care Nursing, Public Administration and Health Leadership.

Dr Michael Tam is a Specialist General Practitioner, and Director of the Primary and Integrated Care Unit in South Western Sydney LHD (SWSLHD), combining provision of family medicine, research, health services development, and governance. Michael’s clinical interest is in the whole-person primary care of people living with mental illness. He is a Conjoint Senior Lecturer of the School of Population Health at the University of New South Wales where he teaches and supervises both clinical and research students in South Western Sydney.

Michael is a member of the RACGP Expert Committee-Quality Care and is the Co-Chair of the RACGP First Do No Harm: a guide to choosing wisely in general practice project. Michael has completed directorship training at the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and he is a Non-Executive Director and Deputy Chair of Sydney South West GP Link Ltd. He is an alumnus of the RACGP Future Leaders Program and was the recipient of the 2022 RACGP Future Leaders President’s Medal.

Keith McDonald has been CEO since 2017, previously working at the PHN as Clinical Director. Keith is a Fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management (FCHSM) and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and has more than 20 years’ experience in health service management across the primary and acute care sectors, plus a further 10 years clinical experience as a registered Physiotherapist in public hospitals and private practice across both metropolitan and rural settings.

Keith has a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), from the Sydney Business School, University of Wollongong; Master of Health Service Management (with Distinction), from Charles Sturt University; Bachelor of Applied Science – Physiotherapy (with Distinction) from Cumberland College of Health Sciences; and Diploma of Teaching from Catholic College of Education Sydney.

Amy Prince has 12 years’ experience in health care management at various levels from frontline to executive roles. She has served as Director of Planning and Performance since 2017.

Amy holds a Master of Public Health and a Master of Management, is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is qualified in training and assessment.

Amy’s key skills lay in the intersection of strategy and delivery, having developed a framework for population health needs assessment from inception to execution and leading Needs Assessment analysis over multiple years. She was also key in setting up SWSPHN as a commissioning agent and has extensive community and stakeholder consultation experience.

Growing up in the local region, Amy has a passion for serving the communities of South Western Sydney and is committed to addressing local health needs and gaps.

Kristen Short has close to 25 years’ experience in leadership roles across a range of industries including health, financial services and technology. These roles have spanned project and portfolio management and data.

Kristen was appointed Director of Innovation and Partnerships at SWSPHN in early 2018, leading the Service Support, Communications and Stakeholder Engagement and Digital and Data teams.

Kristen specialises in strategic planning, driving data-driven outcomes, steering general practice transformation and quality improvement through innovation, process improvement and the adoption of technology.

She has a Master of Business and Technology, is a Member of the Institute of Company Directors.

Michelle Caruso joined SWSPHN in 2023, and brings experience in leadership, general management, operations, finance, governance, human resources, CX and stakeholder engagement.

Michelle holds a Bachelor of Commerce, Marketing and is currently Deputy Chair and Board Member of South West Sydney Academy of Sport and Member of Liverpool City Council Tourism and CBD Committee.

As an experienced senior executive providing services to many industries including not-for-profit, government and private enterprises both large and small, Michelle brings a passion for the health sector and community to her role of Director for Corporate Services, overseeing our core business support functions which include IT, finance, communications, human resources and administration.