District health boards are responsible for overseeing the delivery of health and disability services in their district. There are 20 DHBs in New Zealand and each DHB is governed by a board of up to 11 members.
DHB boards set the overall strategic direction for the DHB and monitor its performance. The Minister of Health appoints up to four members to each board, and the board’s chair and deputy chair. Seven members are publicly elected every three years at the time of local government elections.
Each Board must have at least two Maori members, whom the Minister will appoint if they are not elected.
The Board meets once a month on a Wednesday afternoon, mainly in the board room in Hockin but throughout the year meetings are held at other locations across the Waikato e.g. Thames, Tokoroa and Taumarunui. The Health Strategy and Performance Monitoring committees are also open to the public and meet monthly.
To contact the Board members please email donna.straiton@waikatodhb.health.nz
Current Board
Board chair: Bob Simcock - appointed
Deputy chair: Sally Webb - appointed
- Sally Christie
- Crystal Beavis
- Martin Gallagher
- Mary Anne Gill
- Tania Hodges - appointed
- Dave Macpherson
- Pippa Mahood
- Sharon Mariu - appointed
- Clyde Wade
Board members and profiles
Chair: Bob Simcock | |
 | Bob was appointed chair of the DHB by the Minister of Health in 2013. He believes it is the DHB’s responsibility to be a leader in finding new and better ways to support healthy communities in our region. “I enjoy working in the health sector because the issues we deal with are important for people, and because they are complex, challenging and always changing.” Bob’s family has been part of the Waikato for over one hundred years and he believes that as a region we have the ability to build a wonderful future. A family man at heart, Bob spends any spare time he has travelling to visit children and grandchildren overseas. |
Deputy Chair: Sally Webb | |
 | Sally has a nursing background and has over 30 years leadership experience in governance and management in health, education and voluntary organisations. . She has held numerous Board Chairperson roles, was interim CEO of the Health Funding Authority, a Government Advisor and has many years experience as a coach and consultant involved in leadership development with individuals and organisations. Sally is an appointment member to the Board and is also currently Chair of Bay of Plenty DHB Sally is committed to working with the Board and management to position Waikato DHB as one of the highest performing DHBs in the country. "We serve a diverse population, with many differing needs: therefore communication is important to ensure we understand our communities' and what matter to them." Sally lives in Whakatane with her husband Patrick and loves being part of a vibrant fun community. |
Crystal Beavis | |
 | Crystal was elected to the Waikato DHB in 2013 and chairs the Disability Support Advisory Committee. From early in her career Crystal has been committed to patient advocacy which has led to her holding a number of roles across both government and not-for-profit health organisations. She has worked most notably in the interests of children with diabetes and their families. Crystal says, “Our quality of life relies heavily on our health. Good health boosts children’s learning potential, it supports adults’ earning potential, and it maintains our enjoyment of life into old age.” She wants to ensure Waikato DHB continues to exercise good financial stewardship and to attract dedicated staff, so that it can find new opportunities to help people live healthy, fulfilling lives, and to provide the ongoing support needed for those living with disability or chronic conditions. |
Sally Christie | |
 | Sally has been at the forefront of health her whole life. She first started as a nurse before undertaking further training to be a counsellor and therapist. Sally is the only elected member of Waikato district’s health board from rural Waikato, hailing from Thames. “Health is at the core for me. I believe that for somebody to be well they need good relationships, they need clean air and water, a safe and warm home and for me one way of dealing with that is to have a focus on creating wellness out of an industry that largely focuses on people when they are sick,” she said. In her spare time Sally is committed to community projects, she is currently working on an antibullying project in Thames and helped campaign for the fluoridation of Thames water supply. Sally said she is proud to be part of such a diverse and committed health board, who are thoroughly committed to their communities. |
Martin Gallagher | |
 | Martin is an elected member of the Waikato District Health Board. He is married to Gillian, a registered nurse, and they have four children. Hamilton has been the family home for the past century. Martin has wide experience in business, education and local and central government. He was also elected to the Hamilton City Council in 2010. He previously served on Hamilton City Council from 1985 to 1994, during which time he was Deputy Mayor. He served for 12 years as a Member of Parliament representing Hamilton West. Martin has a number of community roles, including trustee of Hamilton’s Community Radio Station Free FM. He is also New Zealand Vice President of Parent to Parent which supports families raising a child with a disability and health impairment. Martin has been a strong advocate for maintaining health services for both urban and rural communities. He was one of a number of activists who successfully lobbied for the neuro-surgery unit at Waikato Hospital, as well as the expansion and upgrade of both the Waikato and Thames hospitals. Martin is passionate about the right of people in the region to be able to access good health care when they need it |
Mary Anne Gill | |
 | Mary Anne has worked as a communications professional in health since 2007, firstly at Waikato DHB and now with Hamilton-based charitable health trust Life Unlimited. She was elected to the Waikato DHB board in October 2016. Putaruru-born Mary Anne lived and worked for 30 years in Taumarunui, Hamilton, Rotorua and Cambridge taking voluntary and elected roles on boards of trustees, superannuation and charitable trusts, sporting organisations and was the Health Minister’s appointment to the Northern B Health and Disability Ethics Committee until December 2013 and a trustee for the Waikato Health Trust until June 2015. Mary Anne is passionate about health and wellness and actively participates in sports such as golf, cycling and walking. She has a particular interest in public health issues which support good health in our communities. |
Tania Hodges | |
 | After more than thirty years working in the health industry where she held roles in both clinical and management, Tania was appointed to the board in 2013. She believes Waikato DHB is uniquely positioned to provide both opportunities and create change for the communities it serves. “I want to see real improvements in health wellness status for the population especially Maori, Pacific, rural and high needs populations,” she said. Between running her own company developing health leaders; being actively involved in one of her Iwi developments; Mum to four children and sitting on the board, Tania commits herself to fitness. |
Dave Macpherson | |
| After his son’s death while a patient of the DHB’s Henry Bennett Centre, Dave Macpherson successfully stood for election on a platform of improving the region’s mental health services, and increasing the involvement of families in the treatment of their loved ones. Dave is a long-term Hamilton City Council member, and nowadays a resident of Ngaruawahia. He has a background in working in the community and recreation sectors, and previously campaigned for the retention of rural health and hospital services. |
Pippa Mahood | |
 | Pippa has been an elected Board Member since 2004. She always been involved with Health since graduating as a nurse in London in 1971, specialising in Care for the Dying before emigrating to NZ in 1976. She served on the Trust Board for 27years, and is now a Life Member of Hospice Waikato – having helped to establish it in the Waikato in 1981. She was an inaugural member of Hospice NZ, formed in 1985 and was an elected member of Hamilton City Council from 1986 – 2013. She was given the Freedom of the City in recognition of service to the community. She says: “I have always, and continue to be, passionate about the health and wellbeing of the Waikato community, and am focusing my attentions on the ability of the current Health Service to be available to all in a timely and appropriate way.” |
Sharon Mariu | |
 | In private life Sharon works as a chartered accountant and it is those skills in finance that saw her appointed to the board back in 2010. Previously she had been an appointed member of Lakes District Health Board for nine years. Sharon wants to be part of a board that improves health outcomes for the region and by default the communities that live within it. “The biggest change I would like to see for public health in the Waikato is better integration of health services across the spectrum from primary to tertiary services,” she said. “The main emphasis has to be on people being well and staying well in their communities,” she said. Sharon believes the best part of the Waikato is the diversity of our communities and geography, and it is those two elements that both challenge the board but also must be embraced. |
Dr Clyde Wade | |
 | Clyde has been involved in health for his whole career. Although a cardiologist by training he has been involved in a variety of health related activities ranging from cardiology and cardiac surgery to planning and funding, rural health, regional health services and development of the electronic medical record. He was first elected to the Board in 2010. “As I approached the end of my clinical career I wanted to use my expertise for the benefit of the whole community,” he said. Clyde is passionate about maximising the health status of our community, but rapid demographic change over the next decade is going to provide significant challenges for both treatment and prevention services. “Unleashing innovation in health care will be critical and I am keen to see the DHB meet this challenge.” Outside of health care Clyde spends time running a small deer farm just out of Hamilton and being a ‘fix-it” man for his children. |
Committee structure
The current term of the Board started in December 2016. One of the changes made by the new Board was to modify the committee structure.
The minimum requirements for Board committees are set out in legislation. Waikato DHB has met those requirements while at the same time establishing a new structure which will better align with the way organisations like ours actually operate.
The main committees of the Board are:
Performance Monitoring Committee
The function of this committee is to monitor the financial and operational performance of services provided or funded by the Waikato DHB.
Health Strategy Committee
The function of this committee is to consider the health needs of the Waikato DHB population and prioritise the use of health funding provided to the Waikato DHB while also monitoring programmes by which significant service models and other large programmes are established and implemented. The Committee approves and monitors implementation of programmes arising from the Waikato DHB's strategy adopted in 2016.
Audit and Corporate Risk Management Committee
The Audit and Corporate Risk Management Committee undertakes the normal functions of such a committee in any large organisation by overseeing internal and external audit, assessing organisational probity, and monitoring core corporate activity such as information systems, treasury and supply chain.
Other Committees
The Board also has a Sustainability Advisory Committee to ensure the financial sustainability of the Waikato DHB in difficult times, a Remuneration Committee to assess the performance of the Chief Executive and make appropriate recommendations as to remuneration, and a Maori Health Committee to oversee the development and implementation of work arising from the Waikato DHB strategy which is intended to radically improve Maori health outcomes by eliminating health inequities for Maori.