Here’s a happy ending

It’s been a tough couple of months arriving at this spot and my gratitude goes out to everyone who offered kind words of support and aroha to our team

Two months ago, we were in the news – having told our staff that The Health Media would cease trading come mid-year. The double whammy of an education contract coming to an end, coinciding with a dramatic drop in revenue had hit us quickly.

It was devastating news to deliver and equally devastating to receive. And arriving in the wake of the closure announcement for TV3’s Newshub, it felt like we were another footnote in the prevailing media industry story of downsizing and closures.

I am delighted to report that, by the time you read this, The Health Media and its joint-venture company Matui, will be under the umbrella of health data infrastructure company Group Healthcare, familiar to some readers as owners of medicine workflow software ReScript and shared record platform Conporto Health.

This turn of events may come as a surprise, but on reflection it shouldn’t. Delivery mechanisms for news and education are evolving and must continue to change to meet the needs of healthcare professionals and those interested in a sustainable and innovative health system.

Group Healthcare sees a future for the quality news and education provided by The Health Media, and the data-focused analytics and education skills of Matui, publishers of He Ako Hiringa and the accompanying EPiC dashboard.

It’s an interesting place to land, especially for the journalists among us who started our working careers with a shorthand notebook, desktop phone and typewriter. But it is a reflection of how access to information is changing.

It’s been a tough couple of months arriving at this spot and my gratitude goes out to everyone who offered kind words of support and aroha to our team, to contributors who gave their efforts for free and to sector leaders who sought support for us through their membership channels.

It has been an emotional time, and we have sadly farewelled some staff along the way, but it has been gratifying to hear that people value the role we play in holding folk in the sector to account and ensuring the voice of primary care is heard.

That support made the prospect of our closure all the more difficult.

Now we have the opportunity to continue reporting your stories. There will be further change for us, and we’ll share those details down the track as plans are shaped, but for now it’s business as usual.

I will be staying on with the new venture, but my business partner and friend Anna Mickell is making a change. It is with sadness I see this partnership reach its end. It’s been hard work, but we’ve also had a lot of fun and it is with heartfelt thanks that I salute Anna.

It was Anna who originally suggested we take ownership of New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa and Pharmacy Today Kaitiaki Rongoā o te Wā. Or, as she phrased it with more than a little trepidation, “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think we should buy the papers.”

That was nine years ago, at a time when the publications looked to have little future, as the London-based equity bank owner sought to divest itself of print publications around the globe.

Our first offer received a resounding no; but a second, which would see us setting up a company from scratch within six weeks, was accepted.

In retrospect, I think Anna’s expectations of my business skills might have been somewhat inflated. She took on a business partner who, while knowing she would need to remortgage the house, had no idea about the issue of cash flow from day one.

Anna has been, of necessity, the financial brains behind our business, though buying a legacy media business when the business model is broken was more a leap of faith than a clever calculation.

She has watched for the storms ahead – figuratively and literally. As all small-business owners discover, you never know what’s around the corner, but we weren’t expecting the surprises to include a pandemic and floods. COVID gave us a knock, though we continued delivering news and education throughout. Being flooded permanently out of our office on Auckland’s North Shore last year seemed like an unnecessary footnote.

Anna has been full of integrity and care in dealing with clients and stakeholders, and has been a cheerleader for the editorial independence of both publications – an editor could wish for little more. It was Anna who added the word “proud” to “publisher” in our email sign-offs. She has always held the wellbeing of staff close to her heart and been a wonderful mentor to many.

As the final point in our values statement goes – “We care about people and we want our work to mean something.” She has stood by that all the way.

Anna, you have my everlasting thanks.