Telstra Health appoints new Chief Health Officer 

Telstra Health is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Monica Trujillo as Chief Health Officer from 1 June 2022. Dr Trujillo is a digital health leader who has global expertise, bringing more than 20 years of experience across the health sector to Telstra Health.

This announcement follows Chief Medical Officer and Chief Medical Information Officer (CMO/CMIO) Dr Vincent McCauley’s advice of his intention to step down from his role to re-focus on his external work.

Telstra Health Managing Director Professor Mary Foley AM, said:  “I am delighted Dr Monica Trujillo will join Telstra Health. Monica’s global expertise and capability will contribute to our continued growth as an organisation and support our robust clinical governance processes. We recognise the importance of reflecting a clinical perspective in the way we develop all our digital solutions, and this will be even more important as we establish a greater presence globally and strategically partner with clients as part of connected healthcare systems.”

“The newly created role of Chief Health Officer reflects our focus as we bring our digital capabilities together to support our customers to solve complex problems in health and aged care sectors.”

“I would also like to recognise Dr Vincent McCauley’s significant achievements during his time at Telstra Health. Vince established the Telstra Health Clinical Governance Framework and chaired the Clinical Management Committee and our overarching clinical governance and clinical incident management processes. I would like to sincerely thank Vince for his guidance and counsel throughout his time at Telstra Health as well as recognise the role he has played as a mentor to clinicians across the organisation.”

Dr Monica Trujillo said:

 “Telstra Health is at the heart of an integrated digital healthcare system. Bringing a focus on advancing patient-centered care and safety, and improving quality outcomes through the adoption of clinical technology, clinician leadership and active community collaboration, I look forward to effectively engaging clinicians and consumers in the design, implementation and sustainability of digital health solutions, in order to bring about high quality and safety outcomes. I am delighted to join Telstra Health, we can build on what has been achieved so far and grow towards a stronger digital ecosystem across all of health and wellbeing”.

Monica has global expertise and most recently served as Senior Director, Chief Medical Officer and Chief Clinical Information Officer at Cerner Australia and Asia Pacific. As a digital health advocate and enthusiast focused on improving quality outcomes through the adoption of technology, she brings a unique range of skills built on more than 20 years of experience across different areas in the health industry and wider eco-system. With a background in medicine, executive roles and clinical informatics, Monica has been at the forefront of delivering outcomes that break barriers to promote technology, better care and active community collaboration.

Monica joined Cerner in 2018 and prior to this role she was Executive General Manager, Clinical and Consumer Engagement and Clinical Governance, and inaugural Chief Clinical Information Officer at the Australian Digital Health Agency.

Monica obtained her degree in Medicine and Surgery in 1998, holds a Master of Public Health, and is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators, Fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management as well as Board Member and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Digital Health.

Dr Vincent McCauley said:

“The digitisation of our healthcare system during my time at Telstra Health has developed rapidly bringing its own complexities, particularly through the pandemic and the rapid adoption of virtual care solutions. I am proud of how we have navigated this period of change, to ensure the health and safety of our patients, clinicians and staff”.

“It has been exciting to have been able to provide guidance in applying a standards-based approach to clinical software development, as well as ensure patient safety is a critical priority in everything we do at Telstra Health”.

Vincent commenced with the Telstra Health group in July 2016 and took up the newly created position as Telstra Health’s CMIO in 2017. In 2018, his remit expanded to also become the Telstra Health CMO.

Vincent established the Telstra Health Clinical Governance Framework and chaired the Clinical Management Committee to provide overarching clinical governance and a now well-proven clinical incident management process as a quality and improvement process.

In his role as CMO/CMIO, Vincent has led the Telstra Health team through numerous serious software clinical incidents and the subsequent learning and software improvement processes. He has also set up a comprehensive clinical software safety program including the new skill set of Clinical Safety Officer (CSO) and developed a training and support program for CSOs.

Vincent has provided guidance and education in implementation of eHealth software Standards and represented Telstra Health at various forums and provided expert advice in relation to the pandemic to Telstra and Telstra Health.

Dr Vincent McCauley will work with Dr Monica Trujillo during a transition period following Monica commencing with Telstra Health on 1 June 2022.