Elizabeth Koff to become Managing Director of Telstra Health

Telstra has today announced the appointment of Elizabeth Koff as Managing Director of Telstra Health, effective from 1 July 2022.  

Elizabeth will succeed Professor Mary Foley AM who has decided to retire from full-time executive roles. Mary will join the Telstra Health Board as a Non-Executive Director and serve as a Special Adviser to the business.

Elizabeth is currently Secretary for NSW Health, a position she has held since May 2016. NSW Health is Australia’s largest health system with 228 hospitals and 127,000 staff with an operating budget of $30 billion.  In her time as Secretary, Elizabeth has overseen a number of key initiatives and changes across the NSW Health system including:

•  Leadership and management of NSW Health system through the COVID-19 pandemic
• Development of Value-Based Healthcare at scale across the NSW health system
• eHealth transformation with data and analytics reform to drive clinical care improvements and business intelligence
• Transformation of NSW Ministry of Health to agile and flexible work practices

Prior to her role as Secretary for NSW Health, Elizabeth was the Deputy Secretary for Strategy and Resources at NSW Health, and Chief Executive of the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network.

Telstra CEO, Andrew Penn said Elizabeth was an outstanding health executive and he was delighted she was joining the team.

“Elizabeth possesses a deep understanding of the nation’s health system and the need for it to be further digitised and integrated. She is well connected within the health sector at a critical time for the continued growth of Telstra Health. Our recent acquisitions and new contract wins have provided real momentum for the business as we work towards achieving our ambitious T25 goal to grow our Health business to $500 million in size and be Australia’s leading digital health business,” said Mr Penn.

“I would also like to pay tribute to Mary in her role as Managing Director over the last five years.  Mary, with her impressive team, has built and grown an industry leading digital health business for Australia and with an expanding international footprint. I am incredibly proud of Mary’s achievements and of her foresight in preparing this period of transition of leadership in the business to ensure continuity and the realisation of our significant growth aspirations.”

Elizabeth will join Telstra on 19 April to facilitate a measured transition with Mary.