Who got that job?

By LIANE VOISEY

Job title: General manager, Pasifika Healthcare

Were you one of 25 people who applied for this job and wondered who got it?

Improving the health of New Zealand's Pacific Island population, says Estelle Muller, is a daunting task given the statistics.

Pacific Islanders have shorter lives than most other New Zealanders and have high healthcare needs.

There are also challenges in widening their access to healthcare services and making those services culturally appropriate, she says.

But Muller is excited about her new role as part of an organisation with the potential to really affect the health of New Zealand's Pacific community.

"We operate on so many fronts, social issues and health-related issues," she says.

After completing a bachelors degree in economics at the University of Otago, and a masters in the same subject at the University of Auckland, Muller became involved with community projects.

Her previous position was programme manager for Waitemata District Health Board funding team, where she worked for two years, with specific responsibility for oral health and reducing inequality for Pacific Islanders in the Waitemata district. In Waitemata, she says, 40 per cent of Pacific people, compared with 10 per cent of others, live in deprived areas.

Before that she worked for the Health Research Council and Health Funding Authority in managerial functions.

Having had health funding experience, Muller is familiar with the challenges small providers face.

The board of Pasifika Healthcare, says Muller, is elected by the community, and the organisation aims to help develop its community. Its challenges, however, are typical for a not-for-profit organisation, she says.

Muller has already built up links through health funding and her experience means she understands the Government's strategic direction.

Her job, she says, will fundamentally be about building relationships with key stakeholders.

Muller says she's looking forward to getting the best out of everybody she works with and helping to "unleash the potential within her team".