September 06, 2021
ProCare faces up to Māori inequity
The country’s largest GP cooperative, ProCare, has created a new position of kaiwhakahaere Māori after an equity review showed it needed to improve its delivery to Māori.
ProCare has 170 general practices under its wings, including Turuki Healthcare, Health New Lynn and Kaipara Medical Centres.
The job has gone to Mihi Blair from Ngāti Whātua, who was previously operations manager of its equity team.
She says Māori communities have a right to better service than was revealed by the review.
“We really felt we had not done a good job. Our stats show it. It’s public information. Health statistics do not show a good picture for Māori so we’re taking a brave step of really looking at our strategies, how we can do better and how we can make an impact on the ground. It is going to be a journey but we consider it a reset of change with intent,” Ms Blair says.