Three health district leaders have been named among the inaugural Top 50 Public Sector Women in NSW.
The South Eastern Sydney Local Health District clinicians, Associate Professor Amany Zekry, Theresa Jacques and Jodi Lynch are among the medical professionals honoured for their roles.
The initiative aims to encourage and promote women to strive for and be successful in senior positions.
Professor Zekry is the medicine clinical stream director.
As head of gastroenterology and hepatology, she built a clinical team delivering a multi-disciplinary, patient-centred approach towards diseases.
She chaired the St George Hospital Clinical Council from 2010-2013 and is currently District Clinical Stream Director for Medicine, leading efforts to build a collaborative approach to equitable service delivery.
From 2013-2017, she was the President of the Australian Liver Association and formed a large collaborative group that facilitated advocacy for PBS listing of treatment for the hepatitis C virus.
Under her leadership, the first report on the burden of chronic liver disease in Australia was commissioned and published, leading to positive engagement with policy makers.
Dr Jacques is the director of the intensive care unit at St George Hospital, a position she has held for nearly 30 years.
As chairwoman of the Medical Staff Council, she led the community collaboration to obtain funding for the hospital rebuild including a state-of-the-art intensive care unit.
She pioneered several innovations in clinical and management practice.
Dr Jacques received second prize in the World Congress in Intensive Care for best scientific paper for her research into the deteriorating patient.
She is secretary of the NSW Senior Medical Staff Executive and started the NSW Chapter of Women in Intensive Care network and St George Support of Women in Medicine Network.
Dr Lynch is the head of oncology at St George and Sutherland hospitals.
She has a particular interest in breast and gynaecological malignancy, and is the lead clinician for the Breast Multidisciplinary Group, which aims to optimise treatment plans for breast cancer patients.
Dr Lynch is actively involved in clinical research and is the principal investigator for several international studies, and is a regular speaker for community groups including the Cancer Council.
