Building strong community partnerships to deliver more value for money healthcare services and reducing the inequalities for Maori will be the focus of the Waikato District Health Board's controversial new chief executive.
Speaking at his powhiri in Hamilton today, the former Waikato physician Dr Nigel Murray told about 75 people at the welcome that he would build on the past work of chief executives "not just with the all important hospital and the campuses that surround them but most importantly those communities".
"Partnerships that only strengthen what we can do with each dollar we get from our tax payers to deliver more and more services. My commitment is to strengthen with your partnership and minimise those inequalities that exist for Maori. That is a fundamental piece of work that is so important and will always be in my mind and the work of the DHB," he said.
Dr Murray arrived in New Zealand yesterday from Canada where he held the role of chief executive of the Fraser Health Board Authority in Canada for eight years.
His appointment surrounds controversy and coincides with the release of a damning report of the Fraser Health Board Authority where its hospitals were found to have some of the worst results around patient safety and quality of care and the authority had blown its budget three-years in a row despite gaining additional funding each year. Staff were also reported to be overworked and frustrated with the "top-down" management style.
