June 29, 2023
Te Aka Whai Ora boss defends progress
Māori health authority chief executive Riana Manuel says the organisation knows it’s under a political and public microscope – with National threatening to give it the chop if it’s elected in October.
But she says Te Aka Whai Ora should be given time to prove itself.
It’s a totally new organisation managing $350 million in health funding that has to be spread across hundreds of Maori health providers – all while trying to reduce bureaucracy, and improve fundamental outcomes for Maori health.
“I can understand – aspirations high, expectation is high.. and of course we want to do a good job, but you know it took us 182 years to get here – and its going to take a little bit of time for us to sort out how we’re going to fix all these issues,” Ms Manuel says.
She says it has been a major challenge to staff up in an already under-staffed health sector, but people should start to notice real changes by next year’s Budget.