December 08, 2019
Maori chairs to lead DHB revival
Four of the country’s district health boards will be led by Maori chairs as part of a push to improve health outcomes for Maori communities.
Announcing 76 appointments to complement elected board members, Health Minister David Clark said for the first time the number of Māori chairs and deputies reflects the proportion of the Māori population.
The four are Ngāti Kuri Trust Board chair Harry Burkhardt to head the Northland DHB;
former Māori Television and Te Wānanga o Aotearoa chief executive Jim Mather from Ngāti Awa and Tūhoe in Lakes DHB;
former Te Puni Kōkiri deputy secretary Kim Ngarimu from Ngāti Porou in Te Tairawhiti;
and Shayne Walker from Ngāti Kahungunu, the head of Māori business at the Bank of New Zealand and a former Māori health manager at Hawkes Bay District Health Board, returns to that board as chair.
Dr Clark says DHB chairs and boards are at the heart of this work efforts to rebuild the public health services after nine years of underfunding and neglect which led to rundown hospitals, workforces that have been stretched too thinly and worsening deficits.
Copyright © 2019, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com