Health NZ chair Dame Karen Poutasi resigns, board seeking its third chair in less than two years

The Health NZ – Te Whatu Ora chair Dame Karen Poutasi has resigned as chair and as a board member.

Poutasi was appointed chair after the previous chair, Rob Campbell, was sacked.

She had been on the Health NZ board since its establishment in July 2022. She declined to speak to the Herald when approached on Friday.

Her resignation, coming before her 18 month term expired at the end of the year, means Health NZ will be on the look out for its third chair - a high turnover for an organisation that has existed for less than two years.

Health Minister Shane Reti said Poutasi resigned on Friday. She has been asked to stay on until May to give Reti time to find a replacement.

The Government is in the midst of budget negotiations, which have put pressure on sectors like Health, which face severe cost pressures. Health NZ is slightly insulated from these as the former Government pre-committed funding increases, which the current Government agreed to keep.

However, a recent Select Committee Report of Health NZ noted that inflation had increased since those funding increases were committed to, suggesting even more money may be required.

The Government has also committed to publishing the first Government Policy Statement on Health this quarter. This document will give an overview of the Government’s priorities for Health NZ and how it should conduct business. The document may try to resolve some difficult trade-offs between the many competing priorities in health.

“I have asked her to remain in the chair role until the end of May in order to give me time to identify and appoint a replacement,” Reti said.

“Dame Karen has been a valued member of the board since the establishment of Health NZ, before stepping into the chair role,” he said.

“On behalf of the Government, I thank Dame Karen for her work with Health NZ and for her many years of prior service to the health sector.

“Her calmness and deep understanding of the sector has been invaluable throughout Health NZ’s establishment phase, and to me as Minister,” he said.

Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.