Interviewed by Ms Tan Xuet Ying, member of CHI FLYING; Principal Speech Therapist, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
Stella Ward is the Chief Executive, Digital Health Association (DHA). She was formerly the Chief Executive of Streamliners, co-owned by The Joined Up Systems Trust and Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand. A speech language therapist turned digital health leader, Stella has shaped one of the world’s most connected health systems and continues to champion technology as an enabler of better care.
What drew you into healthcare?
Even as a student, I wrote about how, in a tech-driven world, human communication remains fundamental. My belief that technology should enhance people, not replace them has guided every step of my career.
I worked clinically across the full life span before moving into broader system roles: Executive Director of Allied Health, Executive Director of Innovation, and later Chief Data and Digital Officer for the Canterbury Health System. My work involved digital transformation, evaluating health tech startups, and building integrated systems like shared electronic health records and secure clinical messaging.
While leading Streamliners, I focused on developing Health Pathways and helping health systems around the world integrate care. The thread through everything I have done is using technology to support people to deliver better care.
How has your leadership evolved, especially through crises and emerging technology?
My leadership has been shaped far more by behaviour than by job titles. One defining moment was the Christchurch earthquakes. As incident controller for vulnerable people, I had to make decisions no scenario training could prepare you for. My clinical training helped: act with the information you have, reassess when things change, and keep humanity at the centre. Evacuating frail elderly people by military aircraft, and later designing ethical frameworks for their return, taught me a great deal about compassion and long-term impacts.
COVID 19 brought another shift. I found myself making national technology decisions over Zoom with the Prime Minister from my kitchen. Those experiences taught me that leadership today is as much about curiosity, relationships and context as it is about decisiveness.
When leading a global organisation, I focused on understanding local strengths, building trust and letting solutions emerge over time. Sustainable change comes through connection, not command.
Now I lead a focused national organisation at the centre of one of New Zealand’s most important system challenges, working across government, industry, clinicians and communities to build alignment, lift ambition and drive practical progress in delivering improved health outcomes.
What challenges are you facing now, and how are you navigating them?
The biggest challenge is the shift from direct clinical impact system-level leadership. In clinical practice, change is immediate and visible. In system leadership, the feedback loop is long. Decisions you make today may not show results for years.
For me, and for the clinicians I coach, this shift requires accepting vulnerability. You move beyond your area of expertise into broader systems where the impact is slower and less clear. I have learned to balance urgency with patience: pushing for progress but accepting that meaningful transformation takes time.
What keeps me going is knowing that system-level work, though slower, ultimately creates broader and more sustainable impact.
What leadership lesson surprised you?
A moment of vulnerability changed my understanding of leadership. I once spoke to a group of emerging leaders and chose to share honestly about the struggles and challenges in my career. Afterwards, senior leaders, including a chief of surgery, approached me to say that my openness resonated with them.
That taught me that influence does not come from being polished or authoritative. It comes from authenticity. Being willing to be human creates deeper and more meaningful connections than any title can.
Are colleagues showing behaviours that inspire you?
Yes. In Ireland, I was inspired by leaders deliberately placing kindness at the heart of their reform work. It is bold to prioritise kindness during big system change.
At the global Health Pathways conference, I was struck by how members have adapted our tools for climate action, rural care and telehealth. Seeing people innovate for their communities, and take pride in it, reinforced that global systems only work when local people make them real.
How do you maintain kindness and compassion?
I believe kindness is clarity. Brené Brown says, “to be clear is to be kind”, and that guides me as a CEO. Being upfront about change, challenges and difficult decisions is an act of respect.
When we refreshed our organisational values, staff told us they did not feel safe enough to “be brave”. Listening to that feedback was vital. We reframed our commitments around trust, value, ownership and aspiring to bravery. That process reminded me that kindness is not soft – it is about building environments where people feel safe and seen.
What ideas or readings inspire you?
I read widely across biographies, futurists’ blogs, and podcasts. One idea that stays with me is Wayne Smith’s phrase “own your own excellence,” which encourages us to reflect on how we show up and how we contribute.
A long-term tool I rely on is The Winner’s Bible, which offers a structured way of reviewing all areas of your life each year. It helps maintain clarity across personal and professional domains and serves as a reminder that long-term change requires deliberate reflection.
I also stay curious about how we can turn abundant digital data into meaningful insight, something that AI may help us achieve if we use it thoughtfully.
Key leadership messages for BMJ Leader readers
There are three messages I would emphasise.
First, practise courageous curiosity with empathy. Take the time to understand context deeply and be willing to ask difficult questions while holding compassion for those involved.
Second, value collaboration and relationship-building. Health and social care depend on strong alliances, and the most effective solutions often emerge from bringing together diverse perspectives.
Third, remember that healthcare is a team sport. Whether we are managing a busy shift, helping a patient return safely home, or implementing new technologies such as AI, we only succeed when we work as coordinated teams with a shared purpose.
If we lose sight of teamwork and the experience of patients and their families, we lose the essence of healthcare itself.
What is your take on AI?
AI is like any major technology shift. It can be incredibly powerful if used well, and risky if used poorly. The pace of advancement is astonishing.
Right now, I see AI mainly as a productivity tool. It is not replacing jobs in healthcare yet. It can save clinicians and patients valuable time, and time is the most precious resource we have.
The key is to use AI wisely, avoid the hype, and focus on practical benefits that genuinely improve care.
This blog is coordinated and contributed by the Centre for Healthcare Innovation, Singapore
Leading Across the Commonwealth and Beyond captures vital conversations between global health leaders and emerging voices. In this blog, we explore how to redefine how we lead with compassion, connectivity, and courage in an increasingly complex world.
Declaration of Interests
No conflicts of interest to disclose