Leadership shake-up at RFDS
A new captain has been recruited from New South Wales to lead one of the state’s top charities.
Dr Dominic Morgan will lead the South Australian and NT branch of the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), replacing outgoing chief executive Tony Vaughan who is set to retire at year’s end after 13 years at the helm.
The RFDS is one of the state’s leading charities, providing emergency aeromedical rescues and health care to people who live, work, and travel in rural, regional, and remote Australia for close to 100 years.
Morgan is an aeromedical professional with more than 35 years’ experience across the emergency and non-emergency healthcare sectors.
He joins RFDS after more than 10 years as commissioner and chief executive of NSW Ambulance, where he was responsible for leading a workforce of 8000 people across 279 different sites. Among his responsibilities was the oversight of a fleet of 20 emergency healthcare aircrafts operating across nine bases.
Prior to that, Morgan was chief executive of Ambulance Tasmania for more than six years, leading Tasmania’s statewide aeromedical services.
RFDS chair Peter de Cure said Morgan’s experience leading complex health and emergency service organisations “makes him exceptionally well suited to lead”.
“Dominic brings demonstrated expertise in clinical governance, organisational transformation, workforce and cultural reform, major aviation and infrastructure programs, alongside a strong commitment to improving health outcomes for rural and remote Australians and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities,” de Cure said.
Outgoing chief executive Vaughan first joined the organisation as its chief operating officer in 2014, before being appointed in the top role in 2018.
During his time as chief executive, Vaughan was integral in the aeromedical design of the world’s first purpose-built aeromedical jet the Pilatus PC-24 Medi-Jet, reducing emergency response times.
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He also led the RFDS during the Covid-19 pandemic, advanced projects including the Port Augusta Centre for Rural Health and Education, and its digital health and AI initiatives.
de Cure thanked Vaughan for his service and said he had left the RFDS in a strong position.
“On behalf of the Board, our staff, volunteers, partners and the entire RFDS community, we thank Tony for his outstanding leadership and service. We know Tony will remain a great friend of the RFDS,” he said.
Morgan will commence as chief executive-designate on November 30 to do a comprehensive handover before Vaughan’s retirement in December.
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