HITH 2024 Speakers

The Hospital in the Home Society Australasia 2024 Conference Organising Committee is pleased to have the following speakers presenting at the 16th Annual Scientific Meeting. 

More to be announced soon.

  • A/Prof Michael Montalto

    Epworth Richmond

  • A/Prof Penelope Bryant

    The Royal Children’s Hospital

  • A/Prof Sandra Lowe

    Royal Hospital for Women, Prince of Wales Private Hospital & University of NSW

  • Aaron Martin

    Orange Health Service

  • Dr Anne Balcomb

    Orange Hospital

  • Dr David Nicolás

    Hospital at Home Unit at Hospital Clínic Barcelona

  • Dr Jagdev Singh

    virtualKIDS

  • Dr Karyn Cuthbert

    Canberra Health Services

  • Dr Seok Ming Lim

    RMH@Home Acute

  • Elliot Williams NP

    NSW Ambulance, Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney

  • Jason Wallis

    Monash University

  • Rachelle Foxton

    Northern Sydney Local Health District (NSLHD)

  • Rebecca Clarke

    Health Roundtable

  • Rebecca Evans

    Lachlan Health Service

  • Sophie Page

    Monash Health

A/Prof Michael Montalto

Epworth Richmond

Michael is the Medical Director of Hospital in the Home at Epworth Health, a large not-for-profit private hospital group in Melbourne. He has been involved in Hospital in the Home for 30 years in senior clinical roles, and has written extensively on HAH research, policy and development. He has consulted internationally to HIH groups and governments.

He is a Co-Convenor of the World Hospital At Home Congress and a Director of Mobile Radiology Australia. Michael is Home Hospital International Fellow at Ariadne Labs, a joint centre for health systems innovation of the T.H. Chan Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

A/Prof Penelope Bryant

The Royal Children’s Hospital

A/Prof Penelope Bryant is a paediatric infectious disease physician and general paediatrician who is Medical Lead of the Hospital-in-the-Home program at The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, and the paediatric lead of the HITH Society. After completing her PhD at the University of Melbourne, she became group leader of the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Clinical Infections group. She has overseen the clinical expansion of the RCH HITH service and directs its research. A previous recipient of the HITH Society’s Dr Nicholas Collins Fellowship, she has recently convened the Paediatric HITH Improvement and Research Network which includes 17 paediatric HITHs around Australia and New Zealand.

A/Prof Sandra Lowe

Royal Hospital for Women, Prince of Wales Private Hospital & University of NSW

Sandra Lowe is a Consultant Obstetric Physician at the Royal Hospital for Women and Prince of Wales Private Hospital and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of NSW.
A/Prof Lowe speaks regularly at National and International conferences of Obstetric Medicine and she has a long-standing interest in teaching obstetric medicine. She is the lead author of three SOMANZ National Guidelines on the Management of Hypertension in Pregnancy (2014), Management of Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy and Hyperemesis Gravidarum (2019) and has been a content expert for the NSW NVP/HG Project. A/Prof Lowe is the Emeritus Chief Editor of the international journal “Obstetric Medicine” and the Immediate Past-President of the International Society of Obstetric Medicine. She was also the inaugural Section Editor for Medical Disorders of Pregnancy for the Global Library of Women’s Medicine online textbook (2018-2021).

In 2017 A/Prof Lowe was awarded an AM as a Member of the Order of Australia for her contributions to obstetric medicine and in 2018, she was privileged to be appointed an Honorary Fellow of RANZCOG.

Aaron Martin

Orange Health Service

Aaron completed his Bachelor of Nursing in 2008 with Charles Sturt University. Since then he has worked primarily within the Community Nursing, Ambulatory Care and Hospital in the Home spaces since 2009. He has a keen interest in Education and completed a Certificate IV in training and assessment in 2018. He has also undertaken additional training for vascular access.

Currently Aaron works as the Hospital in the Home Clinical Nurse specialist at the Orange Health Service and holds a strong interest in the ongoing expansion and development of out of Hospital based care.

Dr Anne Balcomb

Orange Hospital

Dr Annie Balcomb is currently a GP VMO at Orange Hospital. She has worked for over 30 years as a General Practitioner in rural and regional locations in Victoria and NSW. Special interest areas over this time have included Women’s health, Sexual health and Hepatitis B and C.

Over the last 11 years Annie has worked at Orange Hospital assisting in establishing a HITH unit. She is the current Medical HOD. Annie is passionate about enhancing the HITH model of care in rural and regional western NSW. She has watched the Orange unit develop in many ways including increasing the scope and management practice for many conditions.

Dr David Nicolás

Hospital at Home Unit at Hospital Clínic Barcelona

David Nicolás is an Internal Medicine doctor. He has been working in the Hospital at Home Unit at Hospital Clínic Barcelona for the past 10 years and is the medical coordinator of the Unit. Dr. Nicolás is member of the Spanish Hospital at Home Society (SEHAD) board and assistant professor at the Universitat de Barcelona.

Dr Jagdev Singh

virtualKIDS

Dr. Dev is the medical lead of virtualKIDS and has been instrumental in setting up a statewide service providing virtual care to children with acute illnesses. He is a paediatric pulmonologist and sleep medicine physician at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead by training. He is part of two current NHMRC trials exploring the use of virtual care in children with respiratory diseases. He has received multiple competitive grants as the primary investigator. He has also received numerous awards for teaching and has been a finalist for the prestigious Ann Woolcock Research Award. As a member of the Clinical Academic Group for virtual care, Dr Dev is a keen advocate in the implementation and growth of virtual care particularly in paediatrics, virtual ward/hospital, single front door and remote patient monitoring.

Dr Karyn Cuthbert

Canberra Health Services

Dr Karyn Cuthbert B Med FACEM is the Canberra Hospital HITH Service Director and has a passion for “all things HITH” in which she has worked for 15 years. She has been involved in 2 HITH improvement and expansion projects, chaired the HITH Society ASM in 2021 and is an executive member of the HITH Society.

Dr Seok Ming Lim

RMH@Home Acute

I am a dual-trained geriatrician and general physician, and am the medical head of unit for the RMH@Home Acute (Hospital In The Home) program at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria. The service is a 70-bed service that delivers acute inpatient bed substitution care for adult patients in their own homes, and care delivery is supported by a team of nursing staff, nurse coordinators, doctors, occupational therapist, social worker, physiotherapists and pharmacists.

I am passionate about optimising healthcare delivery to patients, and enjoy working with multi-disciplinary teams to engage patients and their carers to deliver person-centred care that meets their needs in a holistic manner. As a PhD Candidate with the University of Melbourne, I am investigating the current and future role of Hospital In The Home as a novel model of healthcare delivery.

Elliot Williams NP

NSW Ambulance, Royal North Shore Hospital, University of Sydney

Elliot is an experienced Nurse Practitioner, health leader and academic. Elliot is passionate about supporting patients through advanced nursing practice, including in the provision of advanced vascular access procedures. He managed the vascular access portfolio for the RNSH ICU Nurse Practitioner service until early 2024, and is highly experienced in supporting HITH services through direct clinical management of patients, training and staff up-lift, and building capability in services.

Jason Wallis

Monash University

Jason Wallis is a Research Fellow with the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University. Jason is an expert academic and clinical physiotherapist at Cabrini Hospital. Jason’s research is focused on improving health outcomes by implementing high value care and improving uptake of effective and efficient models of healthcare service delivery.

 

Rachelle Foxton

Northern Sydney Local Health District (NSLHD)

Rachelle Foxton is the Allied Health Manager for HITH with a focus on driving innovation, fostering collaboration and embracing change in the Northern Sydney Local Health District (NSLHD). Experience in both the United Kingdom and Australia, public and private domains has enabled a strong focus in orthopaedics (trauma and elective) as an Occupational Therapist and allied health leader. As the HITH Allied Health Manager, I have led the collaboration between HITH and Royal North Shore Hospital with the Same Day Joint Arthroplasty program. This was presented to the NSW HITH Forum in August 2023, co-presenter on behalf of ACI for ‘Selecting the right patient’ in June 2023 and published in Agency for Clinical Innovations (ACI) Joint Pathways Framework and LHD case studies.

Rebecca Clarke

Health Roundtable

Rebecca has worked in both in the Acute Care, Public Health and Community setting, as a clinician, leadership, and significant health project roles.  Rebecca manages multiple Health Roundtable Programs including HITH, Emergency, Nursing, Maternity and Paediatrics.

Rebecca Evans

Lachlan Health Service

Rebecca Evans is a HITH (Hospital in the Home) Nurse Practitioner at Lachlan Health Service, where she plays a key role in delivering innovative, patient-centred care. After completing her Master’s degree in 2019 and successful Endorsement as a Nurse Practitioner in March 2020, Rebecca has focused on improving community health by advocating for hospital avoidance strategies with the RACFs and Community Disability Services. She is dedicated to empowering patients with options that allow them to receive care in their preferred setting, enhancing both comfort and outcomes. Rebecca’s expertise in advanced practice nursing and her commitment to personalised healthcare solutions make her a highly respected leader in her field.

Sophie Page

Monash Health

Sophie is a Dietitian (MDiet, ADP) at Monash Health, currently employed in the Hospital In the Home service and Nutrition & Dietetics Department. She is a strong advocate for allied health in HITH services, currently assisting with developing Models of Care. Awarded a research scholarship with Monash University in 2019, lead Sophie to publication, experience in research design and a passion to further her involvement in quality improvement and research. Sophie’s clinical work is focused on improving nutritional outcomes of HITH patients across multiple specialties including post-surgical, general medical, gastroenterology, oncology and endocrinology.

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