Our Team

Our Leadership Team and Senior Management

John Huynh

General Manager

John Huynh, Waratah Private Hospital’s General Manager, has extensive leadership and management experience with a comprehensive healthcare background as a Finance Director. His considerable knowledge of identifying and implementing a range of innovative solutions that grow private healthcare businesses through a people-centred approach makes John a highly regarded leader within the private healthcare industry.

John is a highly motivated and supportive manager, who brings exceptional qualities and skills that resonate with our Evolution Healthcare purpose and values. His commitment to providing all people in Waratah’s care with exceptional healthcare outcomes and service supports Waratah Private Hospital as a leading private surgical, rehabilitation, and mental health provider for local residents in the Southern Sydney area.

Kim Bassot

Director of Clinical Services

Kim is a highly experienced clinician with over 15 years’ experience in the health industry in a hospital setting with extensive experience within the Peri-operative Services environment. Throughout the years she has transitioned up through numerous roles including clinical nurse educator as well as holding management roles in both the public and private sectors.

During Kim’s 6 years at Waratah Private Hospital she has progressed from the Operating Theatre Manager in 2015 through to the Director of Clinical Services in 2018. Kim has experience in leading and supporting a multidisciplinary team through change management as the hospital has undergone significant growth. Kim has completed a Bachelor of Nursing and Graduate Diploma of Perioperative Nursing.

Caroline Petrovski

Director of Finance

Caroline Petrovski, Director of Finance, has over 20 years’ experience in various roles in Finance, of which 10 years has predominantly been focused on the Health and Aged Care sector. Caroline is a CPA who has also completed a Bachelor of Business (majoring in accounting) degree.

Providing financial reporting is Caroline’s core strength, where she thrives on stepping beyond the numbers to add value through commercial insights and process improvement initiatives that enhance business results. As part of Caroline’s role of managing Waratah Private Hospital’s finance function, she works closely with managers across the business to understand their function and drivers and in turn help them to better manage costs and resources.

Caroline is passionate about building rapport and trust with internal and external stakeholders, which makes it easier to work together, to collaborate and to exchange ideas and information. Caroline loves sharing her skills and knowledge with her team, peers and business managers. She enjoys contributing to people’s development through coaching and on the job training. Over the years she has created opportunities for aspiring accountants to start and grow their accounting career journey.

Our Clinical Team

Kim Graham

Operating Theatre Nurse Unit Manager

Kim joined Waratah Private in 2017 and has extensive experience working in both public and private hospitals as an Orthopaedic Scrub Nurse and as an Operating Theatre Nurse Unit Manager.

With a broad range of senior management experience, Kim is responsible for overseeing the Perioperative setting, thereby ensuring that our patients receive the best clinical outcomes during surgery. Kim has a passion for implementing progressive, individualised care of our patients and works collaboratively with our surgeons, cultivating a genuine enthusiasm for learning and teamwork, providing mentorship and motivation to the theatre team.

Yang Yan Liu

Allied Health Manager

Yan has over 12 years of clinical and leadership experience in public and private health care systems throughout Australia.

Yan is a physiotherapist by trade, and has a Masters in Clinical Rehabilitation, as well as currently completing a Masters in Health Administration. He is passionate about rehabilitation and improving patients’ wellbeing, and has a strong work ethic in developing new services and achieving optimal organisational outcome.

With proven ability to lead and motivate people, and a focus on transformational leadership style, social capital, and patient care, Yan brings extensive experience and a wide variety of exposure to caseloads and work environments from acute, sub-acute, and community health from all over Australia.

Ray Jiang

Senior Clinical Psychologist / Team Leader

Ray is a senior clinical psychologist specialising in complex trauma, dual diagnosis of neurodevelopmental and mental health disorders. He specialises in the treatment of a range of anxiety disorder and disruptive, impulse-control disorders.

Ray is passionate about supporting people and teams to reach their full potential and to live a fulfilling life. He has extensive experience in the senior management of clinical services and governance, providing clinical leadership, supervision, and mentoring allied health professionals.

Ray first graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor in Psychology at The University of Sydney followed by a Master of Clinical Psychology in 2012 from the Central Queensland University.

Shiron Mani

Level 3 – Surgical Nurse Unit Manager

Shiron joined Waratah Private Hospital as a Registered Nurse in November 2014 and has over 8 years of experience as a Registered Nurse and Clinical Nurse Specialist in both the public and private sectors; and over 3 years’ experience within management roles in the private sector.

Shiron has completed a Bachelor of Nursing, followed by New Graduate certificate in New Zealand before migrating to Australia in 2014 and have been part of Waratah since that time.

Prior to the surgical NUM role, Shiron was the Rehabilitation Manager in Sydney Private Hospital for a short while and returned to Waratah as Surgical NUM because her clinical passion was in general surgery.

Shiron is a passionate leader, who educates and empowers her team each and every day to be autonomous practitioners whilst providing best practice standards to the patients and families within her care.

Jessica Edwards

Level 4 – Rehabilitation / Medical Nurse Unit Manager

Jessica joined Waratah Private Hospital as an Endorsed Enrolled Nurse in January 2018 on the Rehabilitation Ward. In June 2018, she took over the role of Discharge Planner and during this time, she was studying her Bachelor of Nursing.

In December 2018, Jessica graduated with her Bachelor of Nursing and began working as a Registered Nurse on the Surgical Ward.

Jessica has over 7 years’ experience as an Assistant in Nursing / Endorsed Enrolled Nurse / Registered Nurse in the private sector. In her time at Waratah Private, she has been in the role of Discharge Planner, Team Leader, Clinical Support Role, Patient Access Manager Relief and is now the Nurse Unit Manager of the Rehabilitation/Medical Ward on Level 4.

In 2020, Jessica was awarded Employee of the Year for her commitment to Waratah’s “Innovation and Growth” value.

Jessica has completed her Certificate III in Health Care Assistance, Diploma of Nursing, and Bachelor of Nursing.

Mevlyn Deo

Level 5 – Re-centre, Mental Health Nurse Unit Manager

Mevlyn joined Waratah Private in January 2021 in anticipation of the opening of Re-centre, a premium private mental health service at the hospital. Mevlyn has over 13 years’ experience working within the Sydney South West Area Health Service, most recently as the Mental Health Nurse Unit Manager at Liverpool Hospital.

Since joining the team, Mevlyn has been utilising her experience to refine Re-centres mental health programs, departmental policies and build a multidisciplinary team. Mevlyn is a passionate mental health clinician and is excited to oversee the development of a brand new hospital specialty and starting the entire service from the ground up.

In addition to her Bachelor of Nursing, Mevlyn holds a Masters of Mental Health Nursing and Certificate IV in Leadership and Management.

Elissa Vasek

Patient Access Manager

Elissa graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing in 2000, and in 2005 completed a Graduate Certificate in Critical Care Nursing.

Elissa has undertaken varied roles within both the public and private health sectors and has vast critical care experience having worked in Intensive Care as a Clinical Nurse Specialist and in the Post Anaesthetic care setting as a Registered Nurse. Elissa has management experience as a Nurse Unit Manager in Intensive Care and as a Peri-Operative Services manager.

Elissa is currently responsible for the assessment and admissions for medical and rehabilitation patients at Waratah Private Hospital.

Karen Alfaro

Quality and Risk Manager / Infection Prevention and Control Coordinator

Karen has 12 years experience as a Registered Nurse, spread across medical, surgical and rehabilitation nursing. She specialises in Infection Control and has been Waratah’s Infection Control Coordinator since 2019. Currently the Quality and Risk Manager, she is responsible for the hospital’s adherence to the different state and national standards in healthcare. and overarching hospital governance.

Karen initially trained and practised as a registered nurse and registered midwife overseas with a master’s degree in Medical-Surgical Nursing. Highlights of her overseas practise include clinical and administrative work in acute medicine and infectious diseases as well as disease surveillance and outbreak management.

Our Non-Clinical Team

Emily Pezzotti

Health Information Manager

Emily has many years experience in the area of Health Information Services. Her background in Clinical Classification, Privacy Awareness, Data Collection, Medicolegal requests and Clinical Documentation ensure the highest standards of protection and management of your important Health Information. Emily oversees the Medical Record and Clinical Coding teams who are trained to facilitate the efficient flow of information in line with all the relevant Privacy Legislation and Health Service requirements. Emily has a passion for Staff Education and Quality Improvements. She believes effective Health Information Management is the foundation for trust and confidence in all hospital services.

Lucy Janda

Patient Services Manager

Lucy has over 6 years’ experience within the private healthcare industry as well as previous medico-legal experience. She has completed a Bachelor of Laws and has been admitted Solicitor of the Supreme Court of New South Wales since 2015. As part of her role as Patient Services Manager, Lucy manages the administration team across the Hospital including pre-admissions/admissions and medical records department.

Fryda Salandre

Marketing and GP Liaison Manager

Fryda joined Waratah Private in April 2021 and has over 13 years experience in the healthcare industry and has strong knowledge and experience in marketing. Utilising her extensive experience, Fryda is responsible for marketing the hospital, its services, our doctors and hosting education/information events and evenings for our GP’s and referrers.

In addition to her industry experience, Fryda has completed an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) and holds a Bachelor of Commerce with a double major in Marketing and Business Management.

Karina Stojkovski

Executive Assistant

Karina has recently joined the team to provide executive administrative and secretarial support to the General Manager and Director of Nursing.

With over 6 years’ experience in a leadership and managerial role, Karina is passionate about building rapport with internal and external stakeholders as well as working to support and improve the day to day functions of all business aspects.

Gordon Manuel

Hotel Services Manager

Gordon joined Waratah Private Hospital as Catering Manager in February 2020 and has over 30 years’ experience in the catering and hospitality industry. He started off his culinary journey in his native South Africa and also working in restaurants Europe before making the leap to Australia in 2002. From early 2021, Gordon also oversees the Housekeeping Team and has since become the Hotel Services Manager.

Since arriving in Australia, he has spent the years working as executive chef in restaurants, five star hotels, catering business and high end aged care. Gordon has also been a board member of the Australia Culinary Federation and is a WACS accredited culinary judge.

In 2017, Gordon was recognised by the HESTA Awards as Australia’s Person of Distinction for his fine dining and culinary experiences in age care and retirement.

His firm belief is that “Hospital Food” can be done better and more respectfully while still being nutritious, tasty and well presented.

Dominic Walsh

Facilities Manager

Dominic joined Waratah Private Hospital in late 2021 and has over 30 years’ experience in the building and facilities management industry. From working in a variety of sectors including private, public, corporate and not-for-profit, he has overseen major building works, managed large scale Facility Management contracts and lead inhouse trades teams. Dominic has gained extensive experience in developing and implementing Facility Management procedures that drive efficiencies and improve levels of service.

At Waratah Private Hospital, Dominic is responsible for the Facilities Management of a complex site and ensuring over 60 contractors carry out their work schedules to meet NSW Health Compliance Regulations. With the safety of visitors, staff and tenants foremost in mind, Dominic overseas strict maintenance programs that are designed to have minimal impact on the day to day operations of a busy hospital

Alongside our Directors and Senior Management, we have our incredible staff and specialists working with us at Waratah Private Hospital.