BOARD OF MANAGEMENT

Patrice Cafferky, Board Chair

Patrice trained and worked as a General Nurse in the Queensland public hospital system and went on to train and work as a Midwife at the Mater Mothers’ Hospital Brisbane. In 1998 she established a partnership in a general practice with a strong focus on training, education and research. Patrice holds a Bachelor degree in Nursing, a Post Graduate Diploma of Practice Management and she is a graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors. Patrice served on the board of South East Primary HealthCare Network (SPHN) as a Director and was Chair from 2009 to 2012. Patrice was a founding director of Greater Metro South Brisbane Medicare Local and has served as a director on GPQ (now CheckUp) from 2010 -2011. She was a Board member of the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association from 2014-2016. Patrice is a Fellow CPM of the Australian Association of Practice Management and has been a Queensland state committee member since 2017.

Patrice owns and manages a 12 doctor General Practice, which has evolved from one doctor in 1998 to its current size.  Her role as Practice Manager, and over 20 years nursing experience, give her a broad view of issues that are faced daily in the primary health care setting.

Patrice holds a Bachelor of Nursing from QUT and a Diploma of Practice Management, is a member of AICD and participates in professional development activities as a director in the area of governance, finance and strategy.

Dr Jo Burton, Treasurer

Dr Jo Burton is a specialist anaesthetist with a special interest in obstetrics and women’s health. She is also involved in teaching and education of junior doctors in the anaesthetic department at Tweed Hospital, and has an interest in doctor wellbeing and welfare. She is one of the Welfare Leads in her department at Tweed Hospital and enjoys being able to support trainees in this way. Aside from her medical degree and fellowship, she also holds a Bachelor of Business which she completed prior to medical training. Outside of work, she is also a mother to two children.

Courtney Purse, Board Member

Courtney is the appointed Chief Operating Officer at Brisbane Clinical Neuroscience Centre building on her experience in corporate governance, finance, medical compliance, leadership and human resources, strategy, and risk management.

Courtney has worked in the medical industry for over 14 years working both in the non-for-profit and private sector. Initially working within the Department of Veterans Affairs medical aids sector nationally and moving into Medicare Locals aiding the development of the now My Health Record program to General Practices. Courtney later relocated to the Brisbane North Primary Health Network where she was able to assist practices with national compliance, resources, education while maintaining the portfolio for sexual health services. Courtney moved to the private sector with Sonic Healthcare and developed national general practice training programs in conjunction with national and state teams.Courtney moved and was appointed Chief Operating Officer at Queensland Gastroenterology, leading the largest private Gastroenterology group in Australia which saw significant growth in her tenure. She has gone on to consult for many general practices to improve patient services and provide compliance recommendations.

Courtney holds a Master of Business Administration, Advanced Diploma in Community Sector Management and Graduate Diploma of Management. She is a current Fellow CPM of the Australian Association of Practice Management and has been a Queensland State Committee Member since 2021. She is a current member of the AICD, a regular contributor to the Australian Practice Managers Journal and is on the Brisbane South Primary Health Network’s Community Advisory Council.

Janelle Black, Board Secretary

Janelle holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB).  Janelle has worked in private legal practice, mostly practicing in litigation and insurance.  Janelle was later employed by a large mining company, and moved into compliance, governance and provided secretariat support to the Board.  After a short career break to have children, Janelle commenced part time employment with Brisbane South PHN, a not-for-profit charity organisation with a focus on primary health and improving health outcomes. She was appointed as Company Secretary by the Board in early 2016 and was appointed as Secretary for Peach Tree in September 2017. Janelle now provides secretariat services and governance advice to other not-for-profit charity organisations such as Foodbank Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Mental Health and Lady Gowrie Queensland.

Viv Kissane, CEO

After her own personal experience with perinatal mental illness, and losing a family member to maternal suicide, Viv co-founded Peach Tree Perinatal Wellness in 2011. Since then, she has been using her lived experience to not only work directly with mothers, fathers and children but also to spread awareness and understanding of the importance of perinatal health and wellbeing across a broad spectrum of society. Viv has recruited, trained and supported Lived Experience (Peer) Workers and continues to provide supervision and mentorship. Her role has seen her develop and implement organisational policy unique to a Peer Operated Service, as well as programs that aim to reduce the impact of perinatal mental illness on families and communities.

Viv is currently the co-Chair of the Queensland Lived Experience Workforce Network (QLEWN), a LEAD member of the national Mental Health Lived Experience and Engagement Network (MHLEEN). She has previous board experience with the Queensland Alliance of Mental Health (2016 – 2019) and has extensive experience in consumer representative and consultation work in governance and strategy at National, State and local levels. In 2022, Viv received an Order of Australia medal for her work in community mental health.

Adam Campbell, Operations Manager

Adam has been a contributor within the community sector since 2006, having worked with children and young people, within community mental health, as a senior guardian within Department of Justice and in family carer spaces inclusive of being an establishing Manager for the Carer Gateway program in Queensland. Adam’s passion lies in holistic family supports and in developing healthy and focussed teams which add authentic value within community.