Whanganui District Health Board chairwoman Kate Joblin has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the New Year Honours List.
She was awarded the honour for services to health.
Mrs Joblin, who was appointed board chair in 2007, has had a rough ride at the board's helm. There have been accusations of collusion with the Government to merge the board with MidCentral Health, and running down women's health services in the region, as well as a messy end to the employment of chief executive Memo Musa and conflict with other board members.
The Wanganui chartered accountant and mother of six says she believes in the power of a team approach.
In recent times the DHB had scored well in meeting national health targets and in September the National Health Board upgraded the Whanganui board from "intensive monitoring" to "performance watch".