Dr Simon Towler has been the Chief Medical Officer since 2022 and previously performed the same role from 2006 – 2012. The AMA (WA) President in 2000, Simon worked for several decades as an intensivist at Royal Perth Hospital and Fiona Stanley Hospital.  

His appointments include Medical Co-Director at Fiona Stanley Hospital; Clinical Lead, South Metropolitan Health Services Futures Program; State Medical Director of Donate Life WA; Executive Director of Health Policy and Clinical Reform Division, Department of Health; Adjunct professor at Edith Cowan University and Murdoch University; member of Curtin Medical School Advisory Board; and member of the Board of Palliative Care WA.  

He was Involved in developing the Clinical Senate and the commissioning of Fiona Stanley Hospital, and oversaw the formation of the WA Health Networks, including the Cancer and Palliative Care Network.  

Simon has made a significant contribution to voluntary assisted dying as a lawful end of life choice for eligible Western Australians. He was a member of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Ministerial Expert Panel that developed recommendations on specific elements for inclusion in the then proposed legislation for voluntary assisted dying.  Following the commencement of the legislation in July 2021, Simon was part of the first group of voluntary assisted dying practitioners and then took on the role of voluntary assisted dying clinical lead in the South Metropolitan Health Service.    

As Chief Medical Officer he provides tireless support to the Medical Workforce Unit, with increased Junior Medical Officer recruitment for the Health Service Providers, and  advocacy for greater focus on teaching and training to address the vocational training bottleneck, to improve career opportunities for doctors.  

As a strong advocate of the importance of workforce wellbeing, he has ensured ongoing funding of Doctors For Doctors (Drs4Drs). 

The Stan Perron Charitable Foundation, established in 1978, was one of the first of its kind in Western Australia and has since made substantial donations to hundreds of causes and organisations — especially those focused on the health and well-being of children.

Mr Perron’s commitment to philanthropy began with his involvement in the Rotary movement, where he was frequently known to bolster the fundraising efforts of his local club with substantial personal donations. A childhood of hardship inspired his enduring belief that those who do well in life should help those in need.

His daughter Elizabeth Perron AM, an Executive Director of Perron Group Limited, was appointed to the Board of the Stan Perron Charitable Foundation in 2014. Since Stan Perron’s passing in October 2018, the Foundation has significantly increased the volume and extent of its philanthropic activity, with gifts divided into two major categories: Community Grants and Health Research Grants. Ms Perron is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Foundation and has served as its Executive Chair since December 2018.

Ms Perron has extensive experience in the commercial property industry, encompassing roles in Commercial Leasing, Retail Property Management and Marketing for Hooker Corporate, Knight Frank and Jones Lang LaSalle.

A qualified and registered radiation therapist, Caitlin McEwen is a final-year medical student at the University of Western Australia who has made outstanding contributions in advocacy, education, research, and rural health equity. Her work spans from grassroots community engagement in regional WA to international research presentations, reflecting a commitment to healthcare and the medical profession that extends well beyond the expectations of a student.  

Caitlin is the founder and president of Pilbara Health Futures, a student-led not-for-profit initiative dedicated to addressing healthcare workforce shortages in rural and remote areas. Through this platform, she actively supports and mentors high school students—particularly in the Pilbara—to explore and pursue careers in health.  

Her passion for mentoring and professional development extends to her role as a Learning Coach in UWA’s Learning Skills and Development Program. In this capacity, she supports four first-year medical students, offering guidance on academic skills, clinical preparedness, and personal wellbeing.  

Within the medical student community, Caitlin has demonstrated sustained and effective leadership. She is currently Treasurer of the UWA Surgical Society, where she manages financial operations and contributes to strategic planning. Previously, she served as the Women in Surgery Chair for the Society, a position through which she championed inclusivity and gender equity in surgical careers. 

Dr Daniel Hunt, a Jaru and Indjibarndi man, is both a General Practitioner and Dentist.  

He’s an exceptional General Practitioner, a tireless advocate for health equity, & an influential leader in Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander health. He has dedicated his career to improving access to culturally safe healthcare, influencing health policy at state & national levels, & mentoring the next generation of clinicians. As a registered RACGP Supervisor, he has invested significant time in mentoring GP registrars, junior doctors, and other healthcare professionals. His focus on cultural safety, holistic care, and community engagement ensures that those he trains carry forward the same values and standards.  

Dr Hunt has held significant leadership roles, including Acting CEO and Deputy Medical Director of Derbarl Yerrigan Health Services. He is the Deputy Chair of the Blood Borne Viruses and Sexual Transmitted Infection Advisory Committee for Western Australia, stemming from an interest managing the Australian Syphilis epidemic. He is the 2025 NAIDOC Person of the Year, the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association’s 2024 Indigenous Doctor of the Year and the 2022 RACGP WA GP in Training of the Year. 

Dr Maria Foundas is a compassionate, dedicated and balanced Geriatrician, Director of Clinical Training, and Intern Wellbeing Officer at SJOG Midland hospital.   

Maria has run the Intern wellbeing program since its inception at Midland in 2020, providing support to the Interns through informal after-work coffee/afternoon tea catch-ups every fortnight. Maria is dedicated to the Intern cohort’s wellbeing year after year, embodying the true spirit of ‘doctors supporting doctors’. She provides ethically informed and compassion-driven support, which is backed by evidence-based advice, in addition to sharing her own appropriate anecdotes as a senior clinician. She provides an invaluable service both in and out of hours to the Interns of SJOG Midland and the hospital as a whole. 

Dr Jemma Hogan specialises in both medical administration and paediatric medicine. She is the Director of Medical Services at St John of God Mt Lawley Hospital and also works clinically as an Advanced Paediatric Trainee at St John of God Midland Public Hospital.   

Jemma previously worked as the Medical Administration Registrar at St John of God Midland Public and Private Hospitals, as an Advanced Trainee in General Paediatrics at Bunbury Regional Hospital and as a Public Health Registrar on the state-wide COVID-19 response at the WA Department of Health.  

She was appointed onto the Clinical Senate for WA in 2019. She also works as an Adjunct Clinical Lecturer at Curtin University, providing lectures on paediatric topics to medical students and facilitating clinical skills sessions.  

Jemma was the AMA (WA) Doctors in Training Committee Co-Chair from 2020 to 2022 and also served as WA’s AMA Federal Council for Doctors in Training State Representative. 

This was a historic year for Hospital Health Check, the AMA (WA)’s annual survey of junior doctors. For the first time since the survey, now a national phenomenon, began in 2015, there were no F grades recorded by any hospital service provider across all key indicators. The survey had record participation of almost 1,500 junior doctors.   

St John of God received a coveted A grade for Morale & Culture, a category that incorporates satisfaction with work, employer support for DiT wellbeing, feel safe at work and not fearing speaking up on workplace issues.  

St John went even better with an A+ in the crucial Access to Leave category, which includes approval and timely processing of annual leave and professional development leave.  

Showing the success of their strategies for supporting Doctors in Training, St John of God also received an A+ in the Recommended category, meaning DiTs actively encourage others to choose this employer. 

Pramana Medical Group, established in 2021, has redefined what patient-centred primary care looks like in Australia. Serving more than 7,000 active patients—65% of whom are First Nations people, the remaining being culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups, individuals experiencing homelessness, and people living with disability. Pramana has made clinical excellence inseparable from equity by creating a centre that delivers health without barriers.   

Their trauma-informed, culturally safe, and holistic model addresses social determinants of health in parallel with clinical care. Weekly home-visit clinics, staffed by a GP, nurse, and social worker, bring healthcare directly to families who might otherwise remain disengaged. By meeting people where they are, Pramana helps rebuild trust with families who may have been disconnected from care for years or decades.  

Pramana’s clinical team is uniquely interdisciplinary, resembling more of a hospital than a GP clinic. The workforce includes GPs, nurse practitioners, primary care nurses, a psychiatrist specialising in addiction, a clinical pharmacist, diabetes educator, podiatrist, optometrist, chiropractor, sleep specialist, dietitian, exercise physiologist, cardiologist, cardiac sonographer, respiratory nurse, and domestic violence social worker. Together they deliver evidence-based wraparound care, while innovative partnerships with tertiary services bring outpatient appointments into the clinic and integrate joint telehealth with GPs to enhance trust and engagement for marginalised communities.  

PMC ensures clinical excellence is not a privilege but a right delivered in ways that are safe, culturally sensitive, and accessible.  

In August, Pramana’s Dr Rajeshwary (Raji) Krishnan received the AMA’s President’s award, recognising her dedication to improving health outcomes for multiple generations of First Nations families. Dr Krishnan was also named the 2025 RACGP GP of the Year.