The Queensland Branch of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia has welcomed the news of Dr Marianne Gale as Queensland’s next Chief Health Officer (CHO) and Deputy Director-General, Population Health Division.
Dr Gale is set to begin in the new role in December.
Queensland Branch President, Chris Owen, says Dr Gale’s experience places her in an excellent position to take over the roles of CHO and Deputy Director-General in Queensland Health.
“Dr Gale’s extraordinary experience working as the Acting CHO in NSW, as well as in the areas of communicable disease, health equity, and chronic disease prevention, places her in a fantastic position to take on these senior roles within Queensland Health,” says Mr Owen.
“We are looking forward to partnering with Dr Gale as we work to ensure Queenslanders across the state can access more health services through community pharmacy.”
Paying tribute to Interim CHOs, Dr Catherine McDougall and Dr Heidi Carroll, Mr Owen says working together, in particular through this year’s challenging flu season, has been excellent.
“We’ve enjoyed working with both Dr McDougall and Dr Carroll, particularly through the challenging nature of this year’s flu season, while also working with Queensland Health, Minister Nicholls and the Crisafulli Government to ensure more community pharmacists can work to a fuller scope of practice,” he says.
“We wish Dr McDougall and Dr Carroll the very best and look forward to working with Dr Gale when she begins as CHO and Deputy Director General in December,” say Mr Owen.
