Diana Horvath
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Diana Horvath | |
|---|---|
| Education | University of Sydney |
| Occupations | Medical doctor, administrator |
| Spouse | John Horvath AO |
Diana Glen Horvath AO (born 1944)[1] is an Australian medical doctor, researcher and administrator and the first female chair of the National Health and Medical Research Council.[2]
Horvath graduated from Redlands, Cremorne[3] and the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery in 1968. She later completed a Masters of Health Planning from the University of New South Wales.[4]
Career
Horvath served as a junior medical officer for three years before emigrating with her husband John to work at Johns Hopkins University for 2 years.
Public health physician and health administrator
Upon return to Australia, Horvath trained in public health medicine and health administration. She served as the chief executive officer of the Central Sydney Health Services, the predecessor of Sydney South West Area Health Service, itself a predecessor of Sydney Local Health District (LHD) and South West Sydney LHD.[5]
Horvath served as the first community physician at Mount Druitt Centre in the early days of the Western Metropolitan Health Region. She also established community nurses at all schools and a back-up service at the Mount Druitt shopping centre, which became the pattern for community health services delivery in Western Sydney. This led to her becoming Principal Adviser in Community Services in the Health Commission of New South Wales, which were formative years for the establishment of the National Community Health Program under the Whitlam government. Diana was responsible for the direction of the program in New South Wales and for negotiating with the Federal Health Department and the Hospitals and Health Services Commission.[4]
