Director General drives innovations in WA health care
Director General Dr Shirley Bowen (pictured right) recently shared insights into opportunities for innovation to an audience of more than 120 people. The event was hosted by MTPConnect and WA Life Sciences Innovation Hub and moderated by MPTConnect’s National Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator Dr Tracy Wilkinson. Image courtesy MTPConnect
Department Director General Dr Shirley Bowen has highlighted the importance of innovation in shaping the future of health care in Western Australia.
As an infectious disease physician, Dr Bowen understands the value of collaborative partnerships beyond the health system and has demonstrated leadership in public and private sectors.
‘Leading innovation research has been a constant theme in my management roles — it is central to our health system and generated from within by our world leading clinicians and outside WA Health by our brightest minds,’ she said.
‘Everybody in the health system has a role in embracing innovation to create solutions that deliver more effective and efficient methods, processes, products, and services or original ways of achieving tangible outcomes that address problems.
‘The value of innovation extends far beyond advancements that have positive health and medical impacts.
‘Digital transformation, artificial intelligence, precision medicine and genomics will be vital in shaping future health care.
‘There also is enormous potential to embrace robotics, AI and other emerging innovations to mitigate workforce challenges like fatigue, sustainability and productivity while providing high-quality healthcare services.’
Dr Bowen acknowledged there was room for improvement in embracing innovation to drive better health care delivery.
‘We need to empower and grow the number of clinician-researchers in HSPs, support time for their research activities and foster a culture of innovation and transformation throughout WA Health.’
The Director General is scheduled to speak at numerous stakeholder events over coming weeks.