Five Minutes with the CEO of Calvary Bruce, Robin Haberecht

The Catholic Voice spent five minutes with the new CEO of Calvary Bruce, Robin Haberecht.

CEO of Calvary Bruce, Robin Haberecht with Archbishop Christopher Prowse

What was your previous role?
General Manager of Calvary Riverina Hospital in Wagga Wagga, which is the private hospital.

What do you see as the main challenges in your position?
An important aspect of the role is further enhancing a positive relationship and collaboration with ACT Health, the Canberra Hospital and our other partners. I see this as being critical to the success and ongoing growth of our service and also with the diocese.

What career highlight are you most proud of?
When I first went to Calvary Riverina in 2016. One of the things that drew me to the Riverina and to Calvary, and still does, is the values and the mission of Calvary and caring for others and our vulnerable people. I look at the core values of the organisation and they really fit with health.

What is the best advice that you have been given?
Always keep an open mind, don’t ever assume things and try to be proactive not reactive. Don’t be frightened to slow down and really think and process things; you don’t have to make decisions on the fly. I am also very conscious to make sure my team have a good work life balance and I try to as well. I strongly believe everyone in the organisation is equal.

Who inspires you in your faith?
The Little Company of Mary (LCM) Sisters. At Riverina we had a very close relationship with the LCM Sisters on site. They are open-minded and very supportive of everything that we did, and their gentle guidance and reflection really inspired me and continues to inspire me.

 What do you like to do in your spare time?
All of our children have been very sports orientated so we love watching sport. I’m an avid reader and never go anywhere without a book, and I love to cook with fresh produce from the markets. My go-to meal would be more of a salad and herb-infused meal because I love the clean taste. As a family, we love to go camping.

What are you most proud of in the last year?
How we transitioned through COVID-19 at Wagga was pretty amazing. We weren’t directly impacted by COVID patients per se, but the ability to work closely with the public hospital and as a region very quickly and collaboratively was amazing.

Favourite sporting team?
I’m a big Geelong supporter and my family love the AFL, but I will try to get into rugby and maybe follow the Canberra teams. 

If you could invite three people to dinner who would they be?
I would say Professor Gerard Carroll who is one of our leading cardiologists in Wagga, Gladys Berejiklian and Paul Kelly. If I could have a fourth it would be our local state member for Wagga Wagga Joe McGirr. It would be a very interesting dinner!