Role Call - People on the move and gaining recognition in the health sector

Distinguished RNZCGP Fellow and Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators Peter Jansen (Ngāti Hinerangi, Ngāti Raukawa) will later this month replace Janice Wilson as chief executive of the Health Quality & Safety Commission. At the RNZCGP, Dr Jansen is noted for his work on cultural competence and health equity and was a founding member of the Māori representative group Te Akoranga a Māui. A medical advisor to ACC, he recently spent three years leading medical services in a large health district in New South Wales, Australia.

Kiri Prentice (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa) has joined Pharmac as deputy medical director Māori, a new role aimed at incorporating mātauranga Māori in decision-making and improving health equity for Māori. Dr Prentice is a consultant psychiatrist and deputy clinical director Māori mental health and addiction at Te Whatu Ora Counties Manukau. In a media release, Pharmac’s kaituruki Māori – director Māori Trevor Simpson says having Māori leaders and expert advisors supports the Pharmac team to strive for excellence in its Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership.

Former tertiary leader John Snook started last month at Te Whatu Ora as director, workforce planning and development. The role is aimed at growing the health workforce through education, training, recruitment, immigration initiatives and workforce retention initiatives, and is in close partnership with Te Aka Whai Ora to ensure a strong focus on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and health equity. Mr Snook’s experience includes strategic planning, business development, operational management and leading teams. He was chief executive of the Auckland Institute of Business and Technology and later of the Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki.

An experienced midwife who worked as a kaupapa Māori midwifery team member at Turuki Health Care, Heather Muriwai (Tangahoe, Ngāti Ruanui) has started with Te Aka Whai Ora as chief clinical officer, midwifery. Ms Muriwai was clinical lead advisor for Māori midwifery at Counties Manukau DHB (now Te Whatu Ora Counties Manukau) and previously ran community breastfeeding support for the DHB. Most recently, she was a principal advisor in the family and community health team at Te Whatu Ora.

Lara Hopley is the national chief clinical informatics officer with Te Whatu Ora, tasked with creating a digital landscape that also crosses Te Aka Whai Ora, primary, secondary and community care. An anaesthetist who served Auckland and the North Shore for many years, Dr Hopley also recently filled the role of clinical advisor digital innovations with Waitematā DHB (now Te Whatu Ora Waitematā). In that role in 2020, she won the Clinical Informatics Leadership Award.

Joseph Lane, former deputy dean of Te Aka Mātuatua School of Science at the University of Waikato, has become dean of Te Huataki Waiora School of Health. In a media release, Professor Lane notes the university remains committed to establishment of a third medical school in Aotearoa. Professor Lane has a PhD in computational chemistry. He is a former director and board chair for private training establishment ATC New Zealand.