The managing director of The Guardian newspaper’s Australian operations Dan Stinton has been appointed as the new CEO of online appointment booking service and directory Healthengine.

He will take over in August from long-term CEO and founder Marcus Tan, who is stepping down after 15 years. Dr Tan will continue as Healthengine’s interim medical director to support the transition.

Dr Tan said a new leadership team would be in place “to fuel the vision to be the first place Australians go to navigate the complex world of healthcare and inspire the next chapter of Healthengine”.

Dr Tan acquired Healthengine in 2009 and developed what was a simple online healthcare directory for GPs looking to refer to specialists to what it says is Australia’s largest consumer healthcare platform.

It had some very rocky moments in that time but has recently won some large contracts, including the COVID-19 booking system and several large pharmacy banner groups.

According to a May report in Mumbrella, Mr Stinton is highly regarded in the media industry, having joined Guardian Australia in 2018 from Seven West Media, where he was head of digital in Western Australia.

He also held roles in news and corporate development with Yahoo7 and has been an investor and adviser to some tech start-ups.

“I’ve admired the business that Marcus and the Healthengine team have built for many years, and am honoured to lead the company in its next phase of growth,” Mr Stinton said in a statement.

“I’m also excited about the opportunity to make a positive impact in healthcare, an industry that my family is deeply involved with, and look forward to working with our many and varied healthcare practice customers and health ecosystem partners to help Australians get better connected to healthcare.”

Healthengine chief financial officer Dan Rohr will act as interim CEO until Mr Stinton joins in August.