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Hawkes Bay District Health Board's controversial boss Chris Clarke has quit his job hinting he was pushed.
Mr Clarke was in the middle of a long-running row between management and the DHB's elected board last year that saw the board sacked by former Health Minister David Cunliffe.
Mr Cunliffe said there had been an "irrevocable breakdown" in relations between the board and management and the board had failed to deal with conflict of interest allegations that were threatening to tear it apart.
During the row, board members accused Mr Clarke of giving the company of board member Peter Hausmann - Healthcare New Zealand - favourable treatment in the tendering of a laboratory contract worth tens of millions of dollars and destroying emails to cover his trail.
He was subsequently cleared of acting improperly by an independent report commissioned by the Health Ministry, but the report and a probe by the Auditor-General found failures in both the board and management's processes for dealing with conflict of interest issues.
Mr Clarke took stress leave in the weeks before the board was sacked, but returned to work under commissioner Sir John Anderson.
However, new Health Minister Tony Ryall returned the sacked board members to a governance role alongside Sir John in December, fulfilling an election promise.
Mr Clarke yesterday indicated that move had precipitated his early exit from the job.
"It was my intention to stand down at the end of this year. However, in
discussion with Sir John and given the sensitivity surrounding last year's removal and subsequent reinstatement of the board, I believe it is in the best interests of the organisation to allow a new chief executive to bring a fresh start to the DHB."
Mr Clarke said he had been asked by Sir John, immediately after the board was sacked, to stay on for a year to aid with future planning and bring the DHB's deteriorating financial results back on target. He believed those aims had been achieved.
His resignation, effective from February 20, follows a shakeup in the sector after National's election win.
Waitemata District Health Board chairwoman Kay McKelvie quit her job on Wednesday, citing frustrations over the board's funding allocation for the 2009-2010 year.
Last week Mr Ryall asked Otago DHB chairman Richard Thomson to resign over a $17 million fraud by two DHB employees.
However, Mr Thomson has refused, challenging Mr Ryall to sack him, a move the minister says he is considering.
- NZPA
