The Roster Te Rārangi: Edition 19

Called to lead on Māori outcomes
Cherie Seamark (Te Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Tama, Ngāti Mutunga) is joining Tū Ora Compass Health as kaiwhakahaere/general manager Māori. Ms Seamark will lead the Māori and population health team at Tū Ora, a primary health organisation (PHO) serving Wellington, Porirua, Kāpiti and Wairarapa. Newly created by the PHO, the role supports its aspiration to achieve equity in Māori health outcomes, a media release states. Ms Seamark has for 11 years managed Hora Te Pai Health Services in Paraparaumu and last year completed an MBA.

Musical and health connections
Tū Ora Compass Health has also named the musically accomplished Henrietta Hunkin-Tagaloa to the new role of Pacific director. Ms Hunkin-Tagaloa, of Samoan and Niuean heritage, leads a Porirua community choir and is a barbershop competition judge. She has worked at the PHO for nine years, recently heading the team responsible for relationships with general practices. She took on extra work last year to raise funds and collect donated goods to help in Samoa’s measles outbreak. Tū Ora says it’s aiming to take a better-coordinated approach to Pasifika health.

A platform for change
Atamira | Platform, a trust supporting mental health and addiction NGOs, will have a new chief executive from February, with the retirement of Marion Blake. He is Memo Musa, who has been the New Zealand Nursing Organisation’s chief executive since May 2013 and is a registered mental health nurse. Barbara Disley, panel member of the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction, says in a media release: “Memo’s strong sector relationships and genuine connection with people will be an asset amid a sector entering a period of significant change.” Mr Musa is a former Whanganui DHB chief executive.

Taranaki son returns home
Basketball took Ōpunake-born Dwayne Tamatea (Taranaki) to the Tairāwhiti region, where he played for the Gisborne Rising Suns and did some teaching. A health career ensued, and now Mr Tamatea is heading home to become Pinnacle Midlands Health Network’s lead for Taranaki. He was an asthma educator for Māori provider Tūranga Health and stayed on, in jobs including population health coordinator, beginning his current role, service delivery manager, 10 years ago. Chief executive Reweti Ropiha praises Mr Tamatea’s rapport with people and his leadership and logistics skills, honed in the COVID-19 response.

A farewell and a welcome
Pinnacle Inc, owner of the Pinnacle Midlands Health Network, has farewelled one of its founders, Hamilton GP Frank Cullen, an innovator behind cloud-hosted records, the health care home, and indici software. With long-serving Dr Cullen’s departure from the executive committee comes GP Kiyomi Kitagawa as the newest elected member. Dr Kitagawa is a Dunedin Medical School graduate and a Kiwi who also has Japanese and Canadian heritage. She is an owner in Carefirst Medical Centre, New Plymouth. GP Fiona Loan (Mahoe Medical Centre) was re-elected and GP Gishani Egan (Morrinsville Medical Centre) has joined as an observer.

Cancer agency gains momentum
Te Aho o Te Kahu – the Cancer Control Agency established this year at the Ministry of Health – has been building its team. Elizabeth Dennett is soon to become clinical director. Although she will continue in private practice as a surgeon, Dr Dennett will leave the University of Otago, Wellington where she has been associate professor of surgery since 2003 and deputy head of surgery and anaesthesia since 2015. Stepping into the role of treatment, quality and standardisation manager is Gabrielle Nicholson, a former senior manager with the Health Quality & Safety Commission.

Psychologists appoint GM
Kylie Hooper is the new general manager/registrar of the New Zealand Psychologists Board, drawing on her background in higher education, including operations management, team leadership and stakeholder relations, in Australia and New Zealand. Ms Hooper moved here four years ago and took up the position of faculty manager for the Faculty of Law at Victoria University of Wellington. She has worked for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the University of Queensland and Bond University, Queensland.

Hiring in high places
The Ministry of Health ends the year with major roles still to fill. The recruitment process is under way for jobs including clinical advisors for its COVID-19 response, in groups such as: contact tracing, border and managed isolation, immunisation, (vaccine) testing and supply; and technical and scientific advice. The ministry has also advertised for a chief medical officer and chief nursing officer. Andrew Simpson is the incumbent in the former and, as previously reported in The Roster, Margareth Broodkoorn has departed from the latter, to lead Hokianga Health.

Reasons to celebrate
Click the ad above to find out about entering the New Zealand Primary Healthcare Awards|He Tohu Mauri Ora. The awards come with a big celebration in May, something to look forward to for your team. Looking back on the world’s most dangerous and bizarre year in my lifetime, I congratulate the New Zealand health sector for its hard slog and adaptability on the pandemic response. A few brief updates: Shirley Crawshaw has arrived back from the UK to take up her role as Pharmac’s medical director; Chris Kerr has stepped up from director of nursing at Hutt Valley DHB to chief nursing officer at both Hutt Valley and Capital & Coast DHBs; and UNICEF has a new chief executive, Michelle Sharp, in the wake of Vivien Maidaborn’s resignation. I’d appreciate your forwarding this email to colleagues who may like to subscribe free to this newsletter. You can also follow our page on LinkedIn. Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday season. See you here on 8 February!

– Virginia McMillan, editor; phone 021 914 699;
email vmcmillan@nzdoctor.co.nz