Maria Noonan started her career at St John of God Hospital Ballarat as a student nurse more than 40 years ago.
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Now she is the hospital's chief executive officer, leading the hospital and its multi-million dollar new development in to the future to serve a growing Ballarat and its ageing population.
Being "flexible and agile" to meet the needs of Ballarat's population as it changes in to the future is a challenge she and the staff will tackle head on.
In the coming months builders will hand over the hospital redevelopment and staff will prepare to start treating patients in the new building from around August.
The $80.5 million redevelopment contains a state-of-the-art catheter lab, a new intensive care unit, additional operating theatres, a new 30-bed inpatient ward, and a modern Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD).
Having lived and worked in Ballarat most of her life Ms Noonan believes she has the skills, knowledge and insight needed to ensure the success of a regional health service.
Ms Noonan held a variety of nursing roles at SJOG Ballarat over the years before leaving to work for the health department to "do something quite different".
"It was a ... really great experience and opportunity and then I came back in 2008 as deputy director of nursing, then moved in to the director of nursing role which I held for 12 years."
She also worked in other St John of God facilities including Bunbury (Western Australia), Bendigo and in the Melbourne head office, gaining the skills and experience that she will need in the CEO role.
It was from the director of nursing role in Ballarat that she stepped up to become acting chief executive officer in October last year following the departure of former chief executive Alex Demidov.
After five months as acting CEO she was appointed into the ongoing role following a national recruitment campaign.
"I've had some great opportunities to do something quite different and work in different spaces," she said. "The beauty of working for a big organisation like St John of God is you get the opportunity to move outside your role, to do some other things, to experience a different level of thinking and working and strategies which are all things you need as a chief executive.
"I feel I've got a good balance of the operational work, knowing how to run a hospital, and also understanding the needs of a regional community like Ballarat. It can be challenging to work in the regional context because relationships are different ... you need to respect and understand those because getting it wrong can be catastrophic."
Ms Noonan said Ballarat's two health services - St John of God and Grampians Health - would continue to work closely together to meet the needs of the city's growing and ageing population.
She said the post-COVID surge of delayed elective surgeries and higher acuity patients had stabilised but for a long time the hospital and its operating theatres had been at maximum capacity and the new facilities would allow them to better meet the needs of the community.
