Waikato’s DHB fill-in health boss resigns
Waikato District Health Board’s interim boss is leaving the troubled organisation.
Derek Wright has been interim chief executive since October 2017 and – as he wrote in an email to staff – was brought in to ‘‘stabilise the DHB and get it back on a firm footing following the well-publicised issues with our previous chief executive’’.
Former chief executive Nigel Murray resigned part way through an investigation into his finances and was later found to have improperly spent DHB money.
Wright emailed staff on Friday to announce that he would leave the organisation on April 26.
‘‘I’ve very much enjoyed my time in the Waikato and do feel that I’m leaving the DHB in a better place,’’ he wrote.
‘‘I hope I have prepared the organisation to move into the future with a permanent chief executive and now it is time for me to move on.’’
Board chair Sally Webb is due to make an announcement about who will cover Wright’s role early next week.
‘‘Derek provided the stability the organisation needed at the time, and we know he will be missed by many staff,’’ she said in a statement.
The health board has been without a permanent chief executive since October 2017, as Nigel Murray quit on October 5.
The search for a permanent boss was put on hold in February. It had already been running four months and the health board had paid $73,000 to recruitment firm Kerridge and
Partners.
‘‘Unfortunately the Board has been unable to recruit a permanent CE yet,’’ Wright wrote.
The board is deciding what to do next, and will discuss options at a March 27 meeting.
In his note to staff, Wright was positive about how he was leaving the health board.
The organisation was about to sign off a ten-year plan ‘‘to give ... a purpose for the future’’, clinical staff numbers had increased in several areas, and new appointments had strengthened the executive team.
He had also tried to improve communication and engagement with both staff and the community.
‘‘I believe that morale has improved and, when I talk to new employees joining the organisation at our regular orientation sessions, I am always heartened by the numbers of people who are returning to the DHB,’’ he wrote.
In early 2018, Wright said he didn’t see his position as permanent.
‘‘I see my job really to settle things down, start to head us in the right direction.
‘‘Longer term we need someone who is going to be here for five years. I’ll stay for as long as the DHB need me to stay.’’
On Friday, Wright said he would be leaving the DHB – as opposed to returning to his previous role in mental health and addictions – and returning to his house in Auckland.
He declined to answer further questions, including why he decided to move on, and if he had concerns about leaving before a permanent chief executive was appointed.
Board chair Webb said in a statement that she agrees the DHB is in a much better place and ‘‘I understand why [Wright] now feels it’s time to move on’’.
The new interim chief executive would be announced early next week, and would carry on the district health board’s work programme alongside the executive leadership team.