The IHHC National Board has recently undergone some changes, with several new faces added to the lineup. Here you can get to know each member and find out a little about their background and involvement with the organisation.

Lisa has been on the IHHC National Board for 11 years and National President since 2019. She is Hotel Service Manager for St John of God Healthcare in Geelong, the leading private hospital in the Barwon and Southwestern region of Victoria.

Lisa came to St John of God with twenty five years’ experience in hospitality. After working at function venue Aberdeen Chateau, she joined Spotless as a site manager and worked at various sites including Melbourne Girls Grammar, Geelong Grammar and Deakin University. Lisa has a Diploma of Frontline Management, Graduate Certificate of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration.

Lisa’s involvement with the IHHC began when she was invited along to a meeting by Adrian Kenny, at that time the chair of the Victorian committee. “He was very forward-thinking and wanted to add a little more gender diversity to the committee – I think he was hoping I would bring a fresh perspective,” Lisa says. “So I went started going along to the meetings and became the vice-chair of Victoria. I worked closely with Adrian and when he had to give up his involvement with the IHHC, I was voted in as the new Victorian chair.”

After a couple of years on the IHHC Board, she was nominated for the Vice President’s role and in 2019 became National President when her predecessor John Boland stepped down.

She describes the appointment of the current Board as “bringing more diversity into the team – our new Board members have come with such fresh ideas and I think they’re going to be very dynamic as we evolve.

“My role as the National President is to ensure that everyone has their voices heard equally on the Board and that our decisions are made with that in mind – that we all have a say rather than being swayed by one person.

“We are highly focused upon both our members and our supporters, as both have an important role to play in the growth of the association, and we need to recognise the strengths each brings.

“It’s very important that we try to build our membership – we need to reach out to people who need the IHHC, and I think there are lots of workers in health and aged care who stand to benefit. When you look around at the smaller hospitals or aged care homes, their staff are looking for support and networking opportunities, and we’re all about supporting and educating people in this industry. That’s certainly what the IHHC has done for me and I want to be able to do the same for others.

“We are now taking a more contemporary approach to communicating with our potential membership base, such as through social media activity on Facebook and LinkedIn, which has seen a growth in our followers and a rise in organic impressions of our posts.

“Our supporters have also been a valuable source of feedback, both at the National Conference and in ongoing communications, and we are evolving in line with this. We’re constantly building closer ties with supporters to help us keep growing, and we’re always looking for ways to provide greater value through our Supporter Packages. One example of this is the fact that supporters can now communicate with our mailing list via EDMs – which provides them with a further opportunity to showcase their products and services to our members.”

Kathy joined the healthcare sector some 35 years ago, taking on a role with Spotless at one of their aged care sites. She then became a Hospitality Manager at Anglicare, which is where she was working when she attended her first IHHC National Conference in 1998. “That was it – I was hooked!” she recalls.

After attending the conference and meeting a number of SA members, Kathy was invited to join the SA Committee. A year later she took on the role of SA State Secretary and in 2013 was voted onto the National Board. In 2014 she was appointed IHHC National Secretary, a role she has held ever since. Kathy was honoured with IHHC Life Membership in 2023.

“This is a rewarding industry to be involved with and I feel I’ve been very fortunate,” Kathy says. “I’ve been on the IHHC SA Branch Committee for more than 25 years – it’s just the best group of people and the contacts you make are incredibly helpful. You can pick up the phone and call people all around Australia to get the information you need.”

As a longtime Board member, Kathy is excited about the new National Board composition. “I’m really enthusiastic about it – I think the two guys from Queensland are going to be a great asset, as will Cheryl in WA! Overall I think we’re heading in the right direction with fresh eyes and ideas.

“They are all great to work with – they get so passionate about what we’re doing, and that’s the key to success.”

Food technologist Cheryl Hughes has been involved with the IHHC since around 2016. “Carey Bray was the WA Chair when I joined the WA Committee in 2018,” she recalls. “I had been doing a lot of work in food safety development in hospitals and started going along to IHHC events because I thought it would be an opportunity to share knowledge and information. Once I got to know everyone I found they were a great bunch of people. At the moment we have a great team on the committee and we all get on really well.”

During her teenage years in the UK, Cheryl began working as a foodservice attendant in a private hospital. Upon graduating from university she moved to Australia where she worked initially in food safety for the manufacturing sector, moving back into healthcare following legislative changes to hospital food safety standards.

In addition to her role as IHHC WA Branch Chair and Board member, Cheryl is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology (AIFST)and runs her own food safety consultancy and auditing business, Facts on Food. She has recently worked as a technical reviewer on the latest edition of the AIFST’s “Blue Book”, Cook Chill for Foodservice and Manufacturing: Guidelines for Safe Production, Storage and Distribution.

Cheryl says the current IHHC National Board is “fantastic – at our first meeting this year, all the new Board members were there and it was a really productive discussion. We all share the same focus on developing the organisation into one that everyone wants to join. If you’re working in hospitality within healthcare, you need to stay connected to learn, grow your knowledge and network – and the IHHC is ideally placed to help achieve that.”

She is also focused on growing membership and support for the IHHC within WA. “We’ve just had two new Gold Supporters come on board and we’re looking to reach out to as many providers in WA as we can to grow our membership.”

Brendan joined the IHHC more than a decade ago and has been involved on the Qld/NSW Branch committee for eight to ten years, working closely with previous Branch Chair Troy Litzow.

A chef by trade, Brendan has spent the last five years working at Metro North’s STARS (Surgical, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service) specialist public health facility in Brisbane, coming on board when it was still a greenfield site – his current role is Site Coordinator, Dietetics & Foodservices. Prior to this he spent seven years at Mater Health Services Brisbane, and RPA Hospital Brisbane before that.

“I had been working very closely with Troy Litzow and Liam O’Toole, both of whom were involved in the IHHC, and gradually took on more myself,” Brendan says. “The IHHC provides great opportunities for industry interaction with peers, a means of finding out more about what initiatives and innovations are out there in the workplace, and gives you knowledge about what avenues you can explore to improve the services you offer to patients and residents.”

On his appointment to the IHHC Board, Brendan says, “I think it’s good to have fresh blood – a lot of new people with new ideas have come in together, and we’re looking at how we can build membership, give value to our supporters and work together to grow the organisation so we can provide better education and support for members across the nation.”

Kevin has been involved with the IHHC for the past eight years and a QLD/NSW Branch committee member for the last five.

Like Brendan he is a chef by trade and formerly worked in hotels and resorts, moving into healthcare some 10 years ago – his current role is Manager Food Services for Mater Health Brisbane. As with many chefs who have made this transition, Kevin says working in the sector brings increased job satisfaction.

“We’re here to help make people better – food is medicine at the end of the day and we should always be championing a food-first approach, as opposed to a heavy reliance on supplements. People love to eat, so it’s important they get good quality food in hospital. With our room service menu, people are surprised with what’s on offer. Our private patients also have the opportunity to order from our Chef’s Specials menu which is developed with Luke Mangan.  The current Chef’s Specials menu features a Native Australian theme, with dishes such as duck breast with warragal greens and Davidson plum sauce, grilled coral trout with macadamia and herb salad and finger lime.

“Working with dietitians is one of the most interesting parts of my job – my role is much more focused on nutrition, food standards, patient satisfaction and allergen management.”

Kevin says it is an exciting time to join the IHHC Board. “At the Perth conference, Brendan and I spoke to a lot of our supporters. We’ve listened to their feedback and are making decisions with them in mind – it’s important to provide value in that partnership.

“It’s also important that we get people more involved in the organisation generally. Prior to Covid, the IHHC ran a lot of face to face meetings and this year is definitely a reset in terms of live events. The Qld/NSW committee are liaising with stakeholders to hold multiple face to face events in both states. We recently held a very successful event at Birch & Waite in Sydney.

“There’s definitely a renewed energy on the Board, with different ideas and a different approach that we’re adopting, and some very positive conversations happening. Both Brendan and I are excited for the future of the IHHC.”