The MercyCARE Board
The MercyCare board has wide-ranging skills and brings a wealth of experience to MercyCare.
Dr Maria Harries AM Chairperson of the Board
Maria Harries has worked for 35 years in practice, policy, research and management positions in mental health, acute health, family violence, education and child and family welfare. For the last 15 years she has been a teacher and researcher at the University of Western Australia. She chairs and/or sits on a number of Boards and Committees in Western Australia that are associated with health and welfare services and church ministry.
Frank Owen Deputy Chairperson of the Board
Frank Owen was a teacher in Catholic and independent schools from the early sixties until retirement in 2000. He held senior administrative roles for much of that time and completed his career as Principal of Santa Maria College. He has been a member of numerous committees and Boards engaged in strategic planning, these include working with the Sisters of Mercy since 1980. His main commitment in retirement is to MercyCare.
Maurice Spillane
Maurice Spillane graduated in Law in Ireland in 1978 and practised there for 10 years before coming to Perth with his family in 1988. Since then, Maurice has practised in the areas of medical law, professional indemnity, planning and local government law with commercial law firms in Perth until January 2005 when he was appointed a full-time member of the State Administrative Tribunal. Maurice has been the chair of the Ethics Committee at Princess Margaret Hospital and the Telethon Institute for Child Health since 1996 and served as the President of the Kids Cancer Support Group for a number of years. He is also a member of the Child Health Research and Education Advisory Council.
Michael Reutens
Michael Reutens has been in general management and technical positions over 25 years within the petrochemical and industrial services sector in Australia and overseas. For the last 10 years, before retiring in 2002, he was CEO of MercyCare Ltd and, previously, of Mercy Community Services Inc. He currently sits on a number of Boards and Committees associated with the Catholic Archdiocese and not-for-profit aged care and welfare organisations.
Dr Rosanna Capolingua MBBS
Dr Capolingua is a graduate from the University of WA and has been a General Practitioner for some 20 years. During that time, she has been actively involved with the Medical Profession through a number of organisations including the Australian Medical Association, both at State and Federal Level. She was AMA (WA) State President for two years, has served on the Executive of the Federal AMA for four years, and is currently the Federal Treasurer. Dr Capolingua is also Chair of the Federal AMA’s Ethics and Medico-Legal Committee. She has been appointed to the Human Genetics Advisory Committee of the NHMRC. Dr Capolingua is a member of the Medical Board of WA, the Professional Services Review Committee, the Board of MDA National, the Board of Healthway, the Raine Foundation (UWA), and is the Director of General Practice Liaison at SJOG Hospital Subiaco. She is a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Notre Dame Australia.
Keith Geers
Prior to co-founding GeersSullivan in March 2003, Keith was a Senior Partner of Geers & Pusey Partners (GPP), a firm he co-foundedin 1981, which grew to a multi-disciplined practice employing up to 50 People. Keith has over 25 years of experience in the Accounting Profession, holds a Bachelor of Business from Curtin University, is a Fellow of CPA Australia, a Commissioner of Declarations, a Fellow of the Taxation Institute of Australia, an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management, an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Company Secretaries and a Member of the Institute of Company Directors. In addition to being a Mercy Board Member, Keith also holds a number of other directorshipsin Perth.
Professor Jan Thomas
Jan has worked in higher education for nearly 20 years, first as an academic in veterinary science and more recently in university-wide management. She is an Auditor for the Australian Universities Quality Agency and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Her association with MercyCare began as a client of child daycare many years ago and, after completing the Catherine McAuley Award for Women in Leadership and Service in 1999, formalised that association through her appointment as a Director.
Sister Anne Tormey
Anne Tormey is a member of the Perth Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy. She has been involved in secondary education, has held leadership roles within the Sisters of Mercy, and has been a member of a number of Boards and Committees associated with education, health and welfare services. She is currently convenor of the Leadership and Service programmes for women sponsored by the Perth Sisters of Mercy.
Tony Wheeler
Tony Wheeler worked for 41 years in Banking, rising to the position of State Manager Lendingwith Westpac in WA, prior to his retirement in January 2001. Since leaving permanent employment he has found the time to increase and diversify his involvement with church related activities in general and MercyCare in particular, the latter stemming from a close relationship which commenced when he joined the Advisory Boardof Mercedes College in 1990. He chairs and sits on Boards and Committees related to the Perth Archdiocese, the Bunbury Diocese, Parish and Religious Congregations, is involved with Catholic Health at a national level and also works with the Church Tribunal Office, assisting in marriage cases.