Newsmaker: Hospice's Sharron Black

This week's Newsmaker is Sharron Black, the chief executive of Rotorua Hospice, which is preparing for its second telephone app

Tell us a bit about yourself

I have a background in management, starting as an owner operator of a retail business, working in finance and commercial law in Australia, and managing radio stations in Rotorua as well as working at a luxury lodge. I have been married to Michael for 39 years. We have two adult children who are both married and have two beautiful children each. I enjoy reading, cooking and hanging out with family and friends. I love travelling overseas or around New Zealand and hope to do more of it in my retirement years.

Tell us about your role as chief executive of Rotorua Hospice?

My role is to work with the key individuals and stakeholders of the Hospice to make sure the trust is financially and operationally sustainable into the future. With only 48 per cent of our funding coming from the DHB, this role is a challenging one. We require over and above our funding from the health board an excess of $800,000 in the next financial year, to meet the Hospice's budgeted costs.

What are some of the ways hospice helps people?

Every day of the year, the Rotorua Community Hospice is available to care for people, who have been diagnosed with a life limiting illness. Care is provided in either the patient's own home or a residential care facility and is provided by the Hospice specialist clinical team. The clinical team work seven days a week and visit patients in their own homes and are also able to provide advice and 24/7 support via phone.

The number of people needing hospice is growing every year, why is that?

We are now seeing the baby boomers start to work through the system. We not only deal with cancer patients, we deal with patients who have life limiting illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, multiple organ failure and neurological diseases. We are living longer and, therefore in some cases, patients are presenting with more than one condition.

How can people help?

They can donate their time as volunteers or they can donate goods, which are sold in our shops to raise funds for the organisation. Our shops contribute the largest amount of money for the Hospice. They can also donate money.

What do you love about Rotorua?

We are so fortunate to have everything on our doorstep from the lakes, to the forests, to the sea just a short drive away. Tourists travel to Rotorua to experience its natural wonders and we have it at our fingertips every day. I love the generosity of the Rotorua community and businesses, it never ceases to amaze me. I feel very privileged to call Rotorua home.

Tell us three things about yourself most people wouldn't know?

I love to cook and bake. It is my time out. The grandchildren love it, they come around and say "what have you baked today nana?"

I like surfcasting. My husband has taught me well. I can make up my trace, set up my rod, bait my hook, cast out my rod and wind in my own fish. However I draw the line at taking the fish off the hook - that's Michael's job.

I recently lost my father to cancer and, alongside my two sisters, cared for him at his home in Auckland in the last weeks of his life. It was a privilege to care for him and to be holding his hand when he passed away.