Ngāti Pukenga, Ngāti Maru and Ngāti Kahungunu's Riana Manuel has been appointed chief executive of the Māori Health Authority by Health Minister Andrew Little and the Associate Health Minister Peeni Henare.
Manuel is the chief executive of Hauraki Primary Health Organisation and iwi-based Te Korowai Hauora o Hauraki.
Hauraki Primary Health Organisation and Te Korowai Hauora o Hauraki chair Harry Mikaere says Manuel's appointment “is a tribute to our late Dame Te Atairangikaahu and to the many of our leaders of Tainui Waka who are no longer with us today, who gave those of us the opportunity to bring closure to the past decades and to take this significant opportunity and vision forward. Now we are reinvigorated and regenerated by the changes."
He is optimistic the days when Māori providers were seriously underfunded are now firmly placed behind them.
“It’s now in her hands alongside her colleagues going forward,” Mikaere says. “Riana certainly has the capability to futurise and configure equity funding given she is a health advocate, an active businesswoman, and has been our chief executive for the past six years.”
Manuel comes with seasoned coal-face experience leading both the primary health organisation and kaupapa Māori health organisation which, during the past two years of the pandemic, has required leadership from the front line.
“If you are going to create policy, change and reforms and it cannot reach the shop floor, it has missed the point. I have spent the past six years working here at home," she says. "It’s been the great privilege of my career to date to serve my people that way.”
Meanwhile, Counties Manukau District Health Board chief executive Fepulea'i Margie Apa has been appointed to head Health New Zealand, the new entity that will take control of the country's health system in 2022.
Māori Health Authority co-chair Sharon Shea said the two appointments were a positive milestone toward elevating the voice of whānau.
"Our search for chief executives was founded on selection criteria that paired dynamic leadership with a commitment to meeting the aspirations of Māori.
"This reform is all about people. I am pleased we have been able to appoint leaders with such strong experience in delivering healthcare services to communities at a local level."
Health New Zealand chair Rob Campbell said the boards were focused on recruiting leaders with the right skills and a track record of implementing visionary and strategic leadership.
"Both Margie and Riana have demonstrable experience and expertise in their own right and have a mix of skills that will ensure they complement each other.
"Transforming our health system to better serve New Zealanders requires a collective approach across the sector with Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority working in partnership with each other, and our sector partners."
Interim Māori Health Authority co-chair Tipa Mahuta has welcomed Manuel's appointment.
"This will be a complex role and we needed someone who could rise to the challenge of supporting the sector to meet the equity obligations of Māori, alongside Margie," Tipa said.
"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to mobilise the health sector and deliver outcomes for whānau that we all, as Māori, have long been waiting for."
Mikaere agrees Manuel has the ability to lead the Māori Health Authority. “She has been able to manage both organisations concurrently on behalf of the people of Pare Hauraki-Tainui Waka, while maintaining strong collaborative relationships with Te Runanga o Kirikiriroa, Te Kohao Trust, Raukura Hauora o Tainui, Taumarunui Kokiri Community Trust, Tūwharetoa and Top of the Wanganui River people. This outcome will prove to be great for all of our people in New Zealand-Aotearoa.”
“This reform highlights partnership and has an equity focus and, after 30 years in the health sector, those are extremely important to me,” Manuel says. “Ultimately if we get it right for Māori and Pacifika whānau, we’ll get it right for everybody.”
Manuel, a registered nurse, has been on the frontlines of the fight against Covid-19 in the Hauraki District, particularly in September when an outbreak of the Delta strain hit the villages of Mangatāwhiri and Whakatīwai.
Manuel will be based in South Auckland where the biggest population of Māori and Pacifika whānau live.
“This signals we’re a change-making agent for all of our people. If we’re going to affect equity – if we are truly going to demonstrate partnership – South Auckland is a great place to start.”
“Both chief executives have extensive experience and a wide range of skills that will be essential to creating a health system so people can get the healthcare they need, no matter who they are or where they live,” Little says.
“Margie and Riana have strong connections to Māori and Pacific communities that have been underserved by our health system, which will be essential to address the disproportionate health outcomes that have long affected our whānau,” Henare said.
Manuel begins her tenure at the Māori Health Authority in February 2022. The role, and Apa's too, will be interim appointments, until both the entities become permanent in July.