June 28 2022
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Kaipara stalwarts welcome changes u by Paul Campbell
“It’s the end of Northland District Health Board as we know it,” say long-standing Kaipara members Debbie Evans and Libby Jones, who have said farewell with other colleagues as the new national authority, Health NZ, takes over on Friday, July 1.
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“We had our last meeting on May 30 where we were both gifted pounamu earrings, a taonga for our stewardship over health services,” said Debbie. Debbie was a ministerial appointment in 2007, and then served another three terms as an elected member. Libby served 12 years and said: “I wanted to join the board to increase the focus on prevention of ill health and working to reduce the disparities that things such as poor housing, health literacy and difficulties in accessing care create. “There has been a major shift in this direction over the years and some significant gains, although, in other areas, things are not much better despite best efforts. Health is complex, and I credit the CEO and management team for their implementation of this change. There is some wonderful work occurring across Northland both in primary care and in the hospitals that we can be very proud of.” Debbie continues in the role as CEO of Kaipara Community Health Trust “whose mission is to ensure appropriate and highquality health services are retained and enhanced for our community. Although you’re reading a lot about the changes, please continue to access services like the doctors as you normally would,” she says. “Changes will happen, but day-today health services will not be interrupted, so please make sure you access them when you need them.” Health Minister Andrew Little held a joint farewell with 20 DHBs across
p Debbie Evans will continue as CEO of Kaipara Community Health Trust
p Libby Jones will still serve Sport Northland and the wider community
the country. In their final task as board members, Debbie and Libby attended a digital pōwhiri on Thursday, June 23, to welcome Interim Health New Zealand CEO Margie Apa and Interim Maori Health New Zealand CEO Riana Manuel. “We were able to raise and set the challenge for improvements that are needed in Northland’s health services. Debbie’s two challenges were securing the rest of the funding to enable them to rebuild Whangārei Hospital, and the second was requesting a change in policy to remove the current roadblock of people accessing diagnostics earlier — that is,
enable other health professionals and not just specialists to refer for CT scans and MRI.” Libby added: “I am hopeful that the new national health system will improve health outcomes, especially for those who have disadvantages such as Māori, Pacific Islanders and rural communities. The northern region will have a number of localities where community voices will be sought. Keep a look out for discussions if you are keen to be part of any local input. I continue in my work as manager of a social services organisation, Jigsaw North Manaaki Whānau and my role on the Sport Northland board.” ¢
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