Board

The Board, which has a membership of up to 11 people, has strategic oversight of the organisation. The Board is partly elected and partly appointed.

Each Board must have at least two Maori members, whom the Minister will appoint if they are not elected.

To contact the Board members please email donna.straiton@waikatodhb.health.nz

Chairman: Bob Simcock
Deputy Chairperson: Sally Christie
Crystal Beavis
Andrew Buckley
Martin Gallagher
Tania Hodges
Pippa Mahood
Sharon Mariu
Gay Shirley
Dr Clyde Wade
Ewan Wilson

Chairman: 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 Chairperson: 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.
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.

Andrew Buckley
Andrew has been committed to the board since first been elected in 2010. He describes the current health care model as needing fundamental change of focus. “Health care, as funded and delivered by health care providers in the future must place much more practical attention on supporting people to maintain and restore their own health status.” he said. Health statisticians are predicting that there will be an increase in demand for our health services. That needs to change, quickly. Therefore, a change of service delivery model is needed. A variation of Einstein’s quote – “you cannot keep doing the same thing and expect a different outcome”! When people go to any health practitioner they need to have empowering and practical answer and support to their question; “what’s the cause of my symptoms, what has caused it and what specific measures do I need to take to prevent it from continuing to be a problem?” Healthy places where people live, work and play are the foundation to human health.

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.

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.

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.

Gay Shirley
Following the resignation of David Currie in 2009 Gay Shirley joined the Waikato District Health Board. She said: “I have had a long standing interest in health; I first trained as a physiotherapist before completing my accounting qualifications.” Gay has a particular passion for preventing health issues before they become chronic which she believes can be helped by providing easy and equitable access to health services. Outside of her public role Gay works as a chartered accountant but she is a busy grandmother to two, soon to be three, grandchildren.

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.

Ewan Wilson
Ewan has served the District Health Board for almost 15 years; first elected in 2001 he has seen the health industry evolve at a strategic and practical level. Ewan joined the board because he wanted to be part of a team that believed every New Zealander had the right to access world class health services. In more recent years he has strongly supported better engagement with neighbouring District Health Board’s to make sure services for patients are better utilised and closer to home. Outside of his roles on both the health board and city council he runs a small aviation company which helps feed his passion for flying. Ewan has a real passion for the Waikato. “I think there is a real can do attitude in the Waikato, it’s exciting, we are one of the fastest growing regions in the country.” Ewan is also Chief Executive of Kiwi Regional Airlines.