Patrick Charles Cregan, AM

 

Patrick Cregan was born in Sydney on 19 November 1951. He studied medicine at the University of Sydney and the Royal North Shore Hospital, graduating in 1975. He completed his residency training at the Royal North Shore Hospital and his surgical training at Concord Hospital, and was later awarded the Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1982.

In 1983, Patrick was appointed as visiting medical officer to the then Nepean Hospital, where he had a busy clinical practice until his premature retirement in 2014. He was an outstanding clinician, with excellent judgement, and an exceptional technical surgeon. As the Nepean Hospital developed into a tertiary teaching hospital, he focused on the subspecialty of breast and endocrine surgery.

Patrick strongly advocated for improved services for the Nepean Blue Mountains population. He was instrumental in many improvements including:

• the upgrade of the Nepean Hospital to a tertiary teaching hospital in 1990;

• the establishment of the Nepean Cancer Care Centre in 1999;

• the expansion of the hospital’s physical capacity with the building of three new blocks; and

• the establishment of the acute surgical unit in 2006.

Moreover, he was the clinical director of surgery at Nepean Hospital from 2000 until 2011, and the inaugural chairman of the Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District Board from 2011 to 2015. In recognition of his contribution, the east block of the Nepean Hospital was named the Patrick Cregan Building in 2016.

Patrick had a strong drive to improve surgical care across New South Wales. In 2004, to deal with serious problems related to the provision of surgical care, he was key in the establishment of the NSW Surgical Services Taskforce, which he chaired from 2004 until 2011. Many initiatives proposed by this taskforce resulted in equitable and sustainable access to high quality surgical care. Because of his outstanding contribution to surgery, he was recognised with the Member of the Order of Australia award in 2017.

Patrick died on 23 January 2017 after a protracted battle with cancer. His tireless work has left an enduring legacy of improved surgical care across NSW and Australia. He is survived by his wife Suzanne, his seven children Rebecca, James, Edward, Thomas, Isabel, Charlotte and Louisa, and his grandchildren Louie and Lilian.