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Member Talk - Michael Scarlett

On Wednesday 28th October 2026, members heard from Michael Scarlett - known to many as Joe and in his own words "has had a fortunate life".

A ‘baby boomer’ and the youngest of four, Michael was born in Mildura. When he was young, his family had the lease of a country pub at Apsley where Michael met fellow club members, Rob McDougal and Heather Robertson.

He has always enjoyed sport. Having grown up in a small-town farming community, a move at age 15 from Edenhope High School to board at Ballarat Grammar School ‘opened [his] eyes to the world’. He went on to study Catering and Hotel Management at what is now Victoria University. Aside from his qualification, Michael learned that if you want to make a living and get ahead you need education, skills and to work hard, which he did, working many jobs to fund his education.

Michael was fortunate to avoid conscription in the early 1970s, while participation in an executive training program with Myer Food Hall convinced him that he would prefer to work in hospital operations, which required a similar set of skills. At the age of 23, he married Rhonda, a teacher, and moved to Bairnsdale to work as an administration officer at the Bairnsdale Hospital.

Soon after their marriage, Michael and Rhonda toured Europe and Northern Africa in a Ford transit van, returning home ‘broke but very happy’.

A job at Hamilton Base Hospital led to a scholarship from the Department of Health to study hospital management at University of New South Wales. It was a tough time with a wife and two babies to support, but a regular sail with a mate on Sydney Harbour was a highlight.

Michael is front and centre

On returning to Hamilton, Michael was appointed CEO – and met another club member, Jan Ross. His career then evolved through many senior roles in hospital management, including at Ballarat St John of God Hospital, the Queen Elizabeth Centre and Ballarat Base Hospital. A career in consultancy, national and international, followed before retirement.

A Rotarian for 38 years, and a past president of our club, Michael has enjoyed the values, professional and personal friendships and particularly, hosting four exchange students, with whom his family keep in touch. In retirement, Michael and Rhonda enjoy travel and seeing their children and grandchildren in Geelong and Hobart.