Lakes DHB farewells chairman Deryck Shaw, welcomes new appointees

The curtain has closed on a decade of health governance for Deryck Shaw.

This weekend was his last as chairman of Lakes District Health Board.

Dr Jim Mather has been appointed as the new chairman by Minister of Health David Clark, and Dr Johan Morreau has been appointed deputy chair of the board.

Shaw joined the board late in 2009 as a ministerial appointment.

He was a founding director of Rotorua-based APR Consultants, set up in 1983, offering a range of services in planning, analysis and research.

Upon stepping down, Shaw said the values of a public health system had always been very dear to him and acted as the key driver for his work on the board.

"No matter where people start in life we need to ensure that they can access the best public health and education systems available."

He said the Lakes DHB was unique, with the size of the hospitals making them attractive for staff and patients.

He said iwi partnerships were fundamental and the DHB was not doing as well as it needed to in terms of Māori Health.

However he added that the new health strategy rolled out this year, Te Manawa Rahi represented a strengthening of the DHB's long-held commitment to health equity.

Also stepping down were ministerial appointees Ana Morrison, Warren Webber and Stuart Burns.

The three new appointees are Sir Michael Cullen (former Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance, Minister of Tertiary Education and Attorney-General), Lana Ngawhika (Te Arawa, Tūhoe) who served the former Te Arawa Māori Trust Board on the treaty settlement that saw the return of 14 Rotorua lakes to Te Awara ownership and psychiatrist and Māori health leader Rees Tapsell (Te Arawa).

The new board will meet in December.