Lakes District Health Board appoints new chairman

Former Te Wānanga o Aotearoa chief executive Jim Mather has been appointed the new chairman of the Lakes District Health Board. Photo / File

Dr Jim Mather says he is "humbled and privileged" after being announced the chairman of the Lakes District Health Board.

Health Minister Dr David Clark said in the announcement that Mather was "an outstanding leader", who would put the people of the region first.

Mather said he looking forward to his new role.

"I think this is an important area of public service," he said.

He said he wanted to help improve health outcomes, for Māori in particular, but also for everyone who lived in the region.

Mather said he was most looking forward to meeting the communities that the health board served and getting an understanding of what their expectations were.

"This is a sector I'm very new to ... I have done some work with primary Māori health organisations, so I understand the challenges that they face," he said.

"You've got to have a unifying vision of what an organisation is trying to achieve, but you've also got to have a very strong customer orientation and be very clear about the expectations of the community," Mather said.

"I think those are going to be the initial challenges for me in the role."

He said he wanted to focus on making sure everyone in the community was served by the health board.

"I really want to focus on equitable delivery of our health services and making sure we're reaching all parts of our communities."