UnitingCare Health’s Executive Director, Richard Royle, has been elected President of the Australian Private Hospitals Association (APHA).

Previously APHA Vice-President, Richard has more than 35 years of experience within the hospital industry and is actively involved in industry matters relating to the private hospitals’ sector. He first joined the APHA Board in 2005 and has served as Vice-President and Chair of APHA’s Policy Taskforce since 2006.

“In addition to being a great honour, I believe my appointment to this role is also recognition of UnitingCare Health as one of Queensland’s leading providers of healthcare, and our reputation of providing exceptional care to our patients and their families every day,” Richard said.

“This role gives me the opportunity to pursue important policy and advocacy tasks at a national level, as well as continuing to promote the positive contribution of private hospitals in Australia.

“I am proud to represent UnitingCare Health and around 300 other private hospitals across Australia.”

Richard is also a Board Member of the Wesley-St Andrew’s Research Institute and an adjunct Associate Professor at the Queensland University of Technology within the Faculty of Health.

As well as his current roles, Richard was announced in 2013 as the Panel Chair on the National Review of the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record. The Review was undertaken by an expert group, led by Richard, in which the panel invited submissions from the public along with key stakeholder groups including peak clinical bodies.

UnitingCare Health is one of the largest not-for-profit private hospital groups in Queensland and is a service group of UnitingCare Queensland. The hospital group administers The Wesley Hospital and St Andrew’s War Memorial Hospital in Brisbane, The Sunshine Coast Private Hospital in Buderim and St Stephen’s Hospital in Hervey Bay.