Welcome a-Board. Heemi Kapa Kingi and Denise Kingi are appointed to the Te Kōhao governance board. Photo / Supplied
Welcome a-Board. Heemi Kapa Kingi and Denise Kingi are appointed to the Te Kōhao governance board. Photo / Supplied
One of the largest Māori Primary Health Organisation, Whānau Ora, and early childhood education providers in the Hauraki-Waikato rohe has announced two governance appointments - Denise Kingi and Heemi Kapa-Kingi.
They join the Te Kōhao Heath board - chairwoman Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Lady Tureiti Moxon, Te Rangi Martell, Koroneihana Cooper, and Owen Purcell.
It has been a big year for the NGO, vaccinating up to 30,000 during the peak of Covid-19, lobbying for health reform resulting in Moxon's appointment to the interim board of the Māori Health Authority, filing contemporary inequity claims in the Waitangi Tribunal, opening Te Whare Puutikitiki residential service and Minister Nanaia Mahuta turning the sod at the site of its $15 million diagnostic and wellness centre in Enderley.
"We've come out of the 'Covid 'cave' and resetting which feels good – it's an opportunity to do more, to be bold and to be unapologetic – that's the mood we're in," Kapa-Kingi says.
The intrinsic value of Māori governance is because "it's personal, it's powerful and it's political", she says. All guided by tikanga, reo and ancestral knowledge.
"There's a 'puna ki te puna' connection here with both a young one who has come through kura kaupapa and an experienced one from sector joining us at the table."
"If anything, the last 2 years perversely have taught us that we've claimed our health spaces back – to design, decide and deliver what serves our whānau best."
Both new board members acknowledge Te Kōhao Health is "part of their DNA" and feel humbled to play their part in futureproofing the kaupapa that serves over 30,000 whānau in the Hauraki-Waikato and Maniapoto region.
Te Kōhao Health has come off a big 2022 and is looking ahead to 2023. Photo / Supplied
Kingi, a retired nurse, was a former kaimahi with the PHO from day one when it opened in 1994 until her last day as general manager in February. Looking after others and Papatūānuku are her key focus given the tipping point of the world due to climate change.
Kingi attributes this mindset of "manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga" came from her greatest role models - her māmā, grandmother and great grandmother who were all involved in hauora and healing practices.
"Strategically when we align with our principles of whānau ora – we need to think about connection - it's not just whānau health but also the whenua because if our whenua is not well, how can our people be well?" she says.
Twenty-five-year-old Kapa-Kingi hails from a research background in te reo Māori and psychology and whakapapa pathway where the promise of Te Kōhao Health delivering quality services was "infused – quite a natural thing I wasn't aware of at a young age".
He follows in the footsteps set by his kaumatua and kuia, Wikuki and Tuss, "Kia whakatinanatia ko te ihi, ko te wehi, ko te wana me te hauoranga o te whānau - Living their tino rangatiratanga through strong, healthy, vibrant and prosperous whānau".
Currently completing honours in clinical psychology at the University of Auckland, Kapa-Kingi has a particular interest to broaden the services of Te Kōhao Health in mental health.
"My biggest motivation to join the board was the vision laid out by my tupuna. Refreshment and revision so we are more efficient and proficient in achieving our goals will be my contribution to the kaupapa."
"What I'm seeing is a growing and large cohort of Māori academics who have been pushing the adoption of our mātauranga Māori paradigms into clinical assessment and treatment to better service whānau Māori. The outcomes have been promising. We have the answers as Māori – the trajectory is looking positive," he says.
