SA Health chief announces departure

The chief executive of SA Health will relinquish the position in November, a memo to all health staff has revealed.

Vickie Kaminski said she had been in discussions with new Premier Steven Marshall about leadership needs across various departments and had agreed to provide working notice until the end of November.

"Recognising that my contract with SA Health will be over in 18 months or so they have decided to initiate a process to determine my successor," she said in the memo posted on social media.

Ms Kaminski's departure comes days after Mr Marshall axed four senior department chief executives as part of a major shake-up of the upper ranks of the public service.

The terminations included Department of Premier and Cabinet chief Don Russell - the state's most senior public servant and a former speechwriter to Prime Minister Paul Keating.

Transport Department chief Michael Deegan, environment head Sandy Pitcher, and Ingrid Haythorpe from the attorney-general's department were also booted.

But unlike last week's announcement, when terminations were effective immediately, Ms Kaminski said a mutual agreement had been reached.

"In my discussions with the premier I agreed to provide working notice until the end of November," she wrote.

"That should allow for recruitment to be completed and the new chief executive to be installed."

Ms Kaminski, a Canadian, was brought in by the former Labor government to oversee the Transforming Health project - the subject of intense criticism from the Liberal opposition.