Bernadette McDonald was appointed to the role when first pick Janet Anderson, at the time a NT health bureaucrat, pulled out of the role just days after her appointment was publicly announced in September.

The CEO role was created when the government split ACT Health into two organisations. Canberra Health Services overseas the clinical side of the old organisation, including Canberra Hospital.

Ms Anderson was in October announced as the first commissioner of the new independent Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission.

Ms McDonald, who was previously a Victorian health bureaucrat, said she was excited and a little nervous to be taking on the role.

She comes into the role during a tumultuous time for health in the ACT, plagued by concerns of poor culture and poor performance.

The government announced an independent review in September in response to those concerns, but stopped short of holding a board of inquiry as called for by the Australian Medical Association.

Ms McDonald said as CEO she would focus on consultation with staff and improving poor patient wait times.

"When I started here I was told 'this is not caretaker, get started'," she said.

"Nothing's really changed [since then], we have a focus on timely access as our fist priority."

She said she had already overseen some progress in improving emergency department wait times by focussing on flow issues in the whole hospital.

She also started a working group with 40 staff members across the organisation to combat occupational violence.

"I think it's about getting the organisation focused together," Ms McDonald said.

She said the newly created CEO role would create a better ability to implement changes in a timely manner.

"But also I come with a different perspective, I come from a different jurisdiction," Ms Mcdonald said.

"I've seen lots of innovations and improvements that work in timely care and improving access to care so I can put a different lens and different solutions."

"It's also about bringing the organisation together. Consulting with staff on the ground.

"They often have the solutions, we've just got to listen to them and give them the power to actually make change.

"My role is primarily to do that across the organisation."

Ms McDonald said her biggest challenge was focussing everyone's efforts in the right places.

"It's about removing frustrations for staff and patients of some of the systems and processes," she said.

"Getting people to trust and speak up and knowing that we will listen and take action that were all this together."