About the Society
Our history
Australia has a long tradition of community services supporting people at home, spanning government, not-for-profit, and private sectors. Hospital in the Home (HITH) officially launched in Australia in 1994 in Victoria and 1995 in New South Wales.
Over the years, various committees and organisations have tried to represent healthcare professionals working in HITH – some initiated by government, others by commercial groups, and some by healthcare professionals themselves. However, by the mid-2000s, there was no cohesive representation for the field.
In late 2006, a group of dedicated healthcare professionals met at Prince of Wales Hospital to form what would become the Hospital in the Home Society of Australasia. The Society quickly organised its first annual scientific meeting in November 2007, which has since attracted hundreds of delegates from Australasia and beyond, showcasing high-quality research and fostering collaboration and networking.
The HITH Society has played an influential role in shaping healthcare policy by lobbying government, submitting to relevant inquiries, and driving the conversation around the role of HITH. Notable contributions include the Deloitte Access Economics Report in 2011 and a landmark meta-analysis in 2012, both of which provided high-level evidence supporting the HITH model.
Presidents
A/Prof Gideon Caplan (2006 – 2012)
Mr Nicholas Marlow (2012 – 2013)
Dr Nick Collins (2013 – 2014)
Ms Barbara Farrelly (2014 – 2019)
Dr James Pollard (2019 – Current)
Board Member
James Pollard
President
James is Clinical Director Community Care and Chair of Infection Prevention and Control at Cabrini Health, a large not for profit Private Hospital Group in Melbourne. James is an Infectious Diseases Physician and was previously Clinical Lead of Barwon Health Hospital in the Home from 2012 – 2019. James has interests in decentralised healthcare, OPAT, HIV medicine and infective hepatitis. James has been a member of the HITH Society of Australasia Executive Council since 2013 and board since 2015.
Board Member
Sue Henning
Treasurer
Sue is the Pricing and Services Analyst, for Silver Chain in Perth, Western Australia and has been in this role since 2015. She has been an employee of Silver Chain for over 30 years and has extensive experience in assisting people in need to live in their community. In 2005 Sue had a major role in modelling and implementing a 500 bed “Home Hospital” in metropolitan Perth. Sue is currently the honorary treasurer of the Hospital In The Home (HITH) Society of Australasia and has held this position since November 2009. Sue’s professional qualification began in 1982 with the completion of a hospital based Diploma of Nursing and a Diploma of Business in 2002.
Board Member
Voni Leighton
Board Secretary
Voni is the Owner and Clinical Director of Vitalis Health & Home Care Pty Ltd and has more than 35 years’ experience as a Specialist Nurse in Australia and the UK. Trained in Scotland, she has spent the past 28 years in Acute Care Nursing in Australia and has held senior clinical leadership roles in ICU, Emergency Care and Hospital in the Home. An Executive Committee member of the HITH Society of Australasia, she is passionate about leading skilled, compassionate teams to deliver high-quality care. Currently completing a Masters in Psychotherapy and Counselling, Voni understands the challenges faced by people wishing to remain at home with dignity and independence. She also contributes through volunteer work with the Sony Foundation, the Raise Foundation and Homeless Connect Sydney.
Board Member
Iftah Amith
Research and Education
Iftah is a dedicated and passionate HITH physician with a diverse array of public appointments throughout Melbourne. Drawing on a solid foundation in General Practice, he deeply understands the significance of allowing patients to heal in the comfort of their own homes. Since embracing the HITH movement, Iftah has been at the forefront of exploring innovative models of care. These include managing acute inflammatory colitis at home. Iftah envisions a future where there is strong collaboration among HITH units across Australasia. He believes in fostering a network which not only shares best practices, but also pushes the boundaries of what HITH can achieve.
Board Member
Ann-Marie Crozier
Medical
Ann-Marie is the Medical Director of Hospital in the Home (HITH) for Sydney Local Health District and Acting Director of Emergency Hospital in the Home (EHITH) and the HITH–Lymphoedema collaboration. She has led HITH in the district since its inception, helping establish services at Balmain, Canterbury, Concord and Royal Prince Alfred hospitals. In 2023 she helped launch Emergency HITH, a program that assesses and treats acutely unwell, community-dwelling older people in their own homes, supported by a mobile multidisciplinary team. Her work focuses on expanding safe hospital-level care at home through close collaboration between HITH services, emergency care, and general practitioners.
Board Member
Karyn Cuthbert
Executive Panel
Karyn has extensive experience leading and supporting HITH services, including her role heading the Hospital in the Home program at Canberra Hospital, where she has driven initiatives to enable earlier transfer home and enhance patient-centred care. Karyn is committed to advancing the Hospital in the Home model through clinical leadership, service innovation and professional collaboration across health systems. She remains actively engaged in the HITH community, contributing to strategic growth, advocacy and shared practice improvements that strengthen care delivered in the home setting.
Board Member
Narelle Hawkins
Marketing
Narelle has been nursing in WA since 1994. Narelle is the Clinical Nurse Specialist for Home Link, the Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital, Hospital in the Home program. She has worked in this area since it’s inception in 1999. Her role involves the management and support of over 28 FTE of nurses in providing acute and complex care for up to 90 patients each day. Narelle has an extensive clinical background in wound care and a special interest in outpatient antibiotic therapy. She has a post graduate certificate in Nursing Leadership and Management, and has been a member of the HITH Society of Australasia executive committee since 2012.
Board Member
Laureen Hines
Board Member
Laureen is a health service manager with over 20 years of nursing experience across acute and community care, with particular expertise in establishing innovative models of care and achieving sustained results. She has worked within the Department of Health, gaining a strong understanding of statewide service delivery, partnering in the scale and spread of new care models, and supporting Hospital and Health Services to review practices and implement improvements. Her key areas of interest include emergency care, patient flow, hospital avoidance, care of the older person, Hospital in the Home (HITH), community care, palliative care and wound care.
Board Member
Michael Young
Governance and Risk
Michael is a Rural Generalist who has being actively involved with HITH programs for over a decade. Michael was instrumental in setting up the Townsville Hospital HITH service and is a co-founder of Hospital in Your Home and actively participates in HIYH clinical matters including providing medical governance for private clients of HIYH. He has a passion for developing efficient and sustainable models of care that focus on improving patient outcomes whist providing value across the healthcare continuum.
Executive Member
David Clark
Infectious diseases
Dr David Clark is a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and an experienced Hospital in the Home (HITH) Consultant who has worked across three states and four health services, with a particular focus on regional and rural care. Growing up in a rural community shaped his strong commitment to improving access to high-quality healthcare outside major centres. David brings broad clinical expertise alongside leadership experience as a Clinical Director and Senior Lecturer at Monash University, with strengths in clinical governance, education, and strategic development. Having worked across both public and private HITH programs, he is passionate about innovation, collaboration, and extending safe, person-centred home-based acute care across Australia.
Executive Member
Vanessa Thompson
Executive Panel
Vanessa Thompson is Head of Unit for Hospital in the Home at Werribee Mercy Health in Melbourne, where she leads and oversees the delivery of community-based acute care services. In this role she coordinates multidisciplinary clinical teams, driving high-quality, patient-centred care outside the traditional hospital setting. Her work focuses on improving outcomes for patients requiring ongoing medical support at home, enhancing service efficiency and care continuity. Vanessa brings leadership in healthcare operations and clinical program management, with experience in acute care pathways and integrated care delivery. She is committed to innovation in models of care and strengthening community health services.
Executive Member
Michael Montalto
Executive Panel
Michael is a leading clinician and advocate in Hospital in the Home (HITH), with more than three decades’ experience in clinical care, policy and research. He graduated in medicine from the University of Melbourne in 1986 and completed a PhD on HITH in 1999. First appointed Medical Head of a HITH unit in 1994, he has personally managed more than 25,000 acute HITH admissions. Michael is currently Unit Head of HITH at Epworth Healthcare and previously led the Royal Melbourne Hospital service, where he introduced a medical model of care and created Australia’s first HITH registrar positions. He has also served as a Director of Mobile Radiology Australia and is an executive member of the Australasian HITH Society and a founding co-convener of the World Hospital in the Home Congress.
Executive Member
Catherine Palmqvist
Executive Panel
Catherine has had wide experience in general practice, and has recently been enjoying the challenges of rural and remote medicine. Dr Palmqvist is a graduate of Sydney University and has further degrees in Radiation Therapy and Palliative care. She has an interest in many aspects of GP from the very young to the elderly, with a special interest in Oncology and Palliative Care. Catherine lives on the Central Coast with a full family of four busy children.
Executive Member
Rajni Nair
Executive Panel
Rajni is Managing Director at Queensland Health in Brisbane and holds a masters in advanced health practice research. Her work encompasses quantitative and qualitative research, academic writing, online surveys, and research project management, with a focus on healthcare practice and analysis. She has contributed to studies on patient diaries and their application in intensive care units, exploring their role in supporting patients and families through reflection and psychological processing. Rajni's research experience spans clinical settings and health systems, underpinned by expertise in research analysis and health practice evaluation.
Executive Member
Olimpia Mateevici
Executive Panel
High Risk Foot Service and Infectious Diseases Unit, Department of Medicine, St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne and
Executive Member
Sean Atkinson
Research
Sean is an experienced Sports Administrator, Communications and Partnership’s professional with a demonstrated history of working in the sports industry. Parkinson’s Disease advocate, fundraiser and spokesperson.
Executive Member
Cloe Benz
Executive Panel
Cloe is a Research Fellow at Curtin University’s School of Population Health in Perth, Australia, and has a background in paediatric physiotherapy and allied health coordination at Perth Children’s Hospital. She leads research in digital health, telehealth and telepractice, with a strong focus on improving access to therapy and allied health services for people with disability through co-design and community-based participatory methods. Her work includes qualitative studies on telepractice functionality, user perspectives in teletherapy delivery, and embedding research within healthcare services to enhance equity and service quality. She has published multiple peer-reviewed articles on these topics.
Executive Member
Penelope Bryant
Paediatrics
Penelope is a Consultant Paediatrician specialising in Infectious Diseases, working at the Royal Children's Hospital and doing research at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and the University of Melbourne. Her particular areas of clinical and research interest include the use and misuse of antibiotics in hospital and in the home.
Executive Member
Sophie Page
Allied Health
Sophie
is a registered dietitian at Monash Health in Melbourne, where she provides evidence-based nutritional care across clinical settings. She holds a degree in dietetics from Monash University and applies her expertise to support patients with a range of medical and dietary needs, including chronic disease management and tailored therapeutic nutrition plans. Sophie collaborates with multidisciplinary healthcare teams to optimise patient outcomes and improve overall health through nutrition intervention and education. She is committed to ongoing professional development and contributing to best-practice dietetic care within the public health system.
Executive Members
Executive Members are nominated by a single Member and are typically individuals who want to contribute to the Society without holding a formal Board position. They usually take on specific tasks on behalf of the Society and use this experience to become more familiar with its operations. Serving as an Executive Member for a year or two is often a valuable step for those considering future Board nomination. If you are interested, please contact us and address the President in your message.
Board Members
The Board is elected by Members of the Society at the Annual General Meeting (AGM), with each term lasting two years. Nomination for the Board requires two financial members to endorse the candidate (Proposer and Seconder). All Board positions are voluntary and unpaid. From within the elected Board, the roles of President, Treasurer, and Secretary are appointed. Board members are responsible for ensuring the financial and operational stability of the Society.
Leadership
Groups and committees
Our committees and special interest groups bring together members committed to advancing HITH practice, education, research and advocacy. Committees are elected in line with their terms of reference and report directly to the Board, while special interest groups provide collaborative forums focused on specific clinical or professional areas. These groups offer opportunities to connect with peers, share ideas and contribute to innovation in hospital-level care at home.
If you are interested in forming or leading a Special Interest Group, please contact us and help shape the future of HITH care. Participation in committees or special interest groups is open to HITH Society Australasia members only. Log in to access these groups.
Conference Organising Committee
Plans and delivers our annual conference, curating program content, speakers and logistics to showcase innovation, research and best practice in HITH.
Medical Group
Connects HITH medical clinicians to discuss clinical challenges, models of care, governance and innovation in home-based acute services.
New Zealand Group
Provides a forum for New Zealand HITH clinicians to collaborate, share experience and progress national development of HITH services.
Nursing Group
Brings together HITH nurses to share expertise, develop practice, support leadership and advance nursing contributions to home-based acute care.
Paediatrics Group
Explores and advances HITH care for children and young people, addressing clinical pathways, safety, family engagement and service design.
Research Group
Supports collaborative research, evidence generation and translation to strengthen HITH models, outcomes and policy across Australasia.
Vascular Access Group
Focuses on best practice vascular access in HITH, promoting safety, innovation, education and improved patient outcomes.
Collaborations
The Hospital in the Home Society Australasia actively partners with various not-for-profit organisations to enhance healthcare delivery in home settings. Through these collaborations, we work together to share knowledge, drive innovation, and support the growth of the HITH model across Australasia.
If your organisation is interested in partnering, with the society, please contact us to explore collaboration opportunities.
In 2024, the HITH Society Australasia began a collaboration with the Australian Vascular Access Society (AVAS). The partnership focuses on joint education and research to improve vascular access practice and patient outcomes in home-based care. It strengthens shared expertise across both organisations. For more information about AVAS, visit their website.
In 2020, the HITH Society Australasia and the Health Roundtable formed a partnership to advance excellence in Hospital in the Home care. The collaboration supports shared learning, resources and improvement initiatives. Each year, the Health Roundtable hosts a pre-conference session focused on innovation in home-based acute care. More information is available on their website.
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The Taiwan Society of Home Health Care (TSOHHC) is a professional organization founded in 2017 to promote home health care in Taiwan. It unites healthcare professionals and researchers to advance integrated, community-based care, support aging in place, and strengthen sustainable home medical services through collaboration, education, and research.
