"This is fantastic for me and my family, but also for the community. I am as committed as I have ever been to doing what I can to make a better New Zealand, where everyone has the opportunities they deserve, and this is a great place to ply my trade."
There was "heaps more" that he intended to do yet, but there were many, many other people who were doing fabulous things. Very few of those people would be recognised, and he wished to acknowledge them.
"This award is a challenge for me to do what I am capable of," he added.
"I take that on board, but I am part of a team. No one can achieve great things without great people around them.
"There will be no stopping what we are doing in this community now though. We have momentum, and a lot of support from all around the country.
ContagiousMayor John Carter said the council was hosting the civic reception to give the community a chance to show its appreciation and offer its congratulations for the work Dr O'Sullivan and his team were doing.
"It is also time to reflect on his 2013 Maori of the Year achievement and on the leadership awards he has achieved, including a Public Health Champion award and the Sir Peter Blake Trust leadership award for his work to protect the health of our young people," he said.
"I'm sure he is not in it for the accolades. But when somebody with such motivation and drive has achieved in a relatively short time what others have spent decades achieving, it would be remiss of the council as representatives of the wider community not to find a way to make a formal public acknowledgment.
"Lance has almost single-handedly raised the profile of the Far North overnight, and his on-going work with medical students and on the health care front will continue to make a positive contribution towards maintaining and enhancing the reputation of the Far North as one of New Zealand's most desirable locations in which to live, work and play. His work has already been acknowledged by the Royal College of General Practitioners for its innovation and for the way it has raised the GP profession to new heights in the eyes of the public.
"Much of what Dr O'Sullivan's team has been doing is not new, but the way in which their services are delivered is innovative. The enthusiasm they bring is contagious, and should be long-lasting."
Mr Carter went on to make three presentations to Dr O'Sullivan, of a citation on behalf of the community, a toki (traditional carving instrument handle, symbolising the carving out of a pathway to better and affordable health care for impoverished communities), and blood-pressure monitors, a practical reflection of the work that was being done in the clinics and a small gesture to assist and encourage that work.
Wish listMeanwhile Northland DHB chairman Tony Norman said he would like to have 100 Lance O'Sullivans working in the public health system.
The DHB received $500 million in taxpayer funding every year, with annual increases, but there was never enough money.
"It is axiomatic that we must change the way we do business, and the services Lance delivers are a good example of what must be done locally, regionally and nationally," he said.
The DHB valued his courage, pragmatism and dedication to making a difference, his commitment to patient welfare and the inspiration he provided to medical students.
Te Runanga o Te Rarawa chairman Haami Piripi particularly agreed with the last point. He had a son in medical school who hung on every word Dr O'Sullivan uttered, he said, but heard not a word spoken by his father.
