DISTINGUISHED Brisbane doctor Peter Steer will join the Mater Group this month after being appointed as the organisation’s new chief executive officer.
Dr Steer, who has spent much of his career working in New Zealand and Canada, said he was happy to return to the Mater where his career began in 1982.
“Brisbane has always been home,” Dr Steer said.
“When this job came up it was a great opportunity – not just to come home, but obviously spending seventeen years of my career here it was an extraordinary opportunity to become part of this organisation again.”
This will be the second major leadership role Dr Steer has had with Brisbane’s Mater hospital.
“I had a significant role here at the Mater in the late nineties,” he said.
“I led the Mater Children’s Hospital, as it was then, when they were doing the new build on Stanley Street.
“I was very much part of that team and it was a privilege at the time.”
Despite his rich medical background, which includes a tenure as the president of McMaster Children’s Hospital in Canada, Dr Steer is cognizant of the challenges that lie ahead.
“It’s a difficult time in health care across the world,” he said.
“The Mater has the privilege of straddling a pretty unique place – both in the public sector and the private sector – and again, contributing as it has for many, many years across education and research as well as care.”
The CEO is confident, however, that the fabric of the Mater and the Sisters of Mercy has created a strong platform to build on.
“The Sisters of Mercy here were courageous in starting this endeavour,” Dr Steer said.
“It’s great to be part of an organisation with some extraordinary courage in the DNA.”
