New leadership team to engage community
Rural Northwest Health is working towards engaging the community this year to ensure members are receiving the health services they need.
A new leadership team of chief executive Jenni Masters and incoming board chair Genevieve O’sullivan are looking to make the community a priority.
At the service’s annual meeting last week, outgoing board chair Dr John Aitken handed the reins to Ms O’sullivan.
She said 2023 was a pivotal time for the community, with major public health outcomes and significant healthcare reforms on the agenda.
“As a board and organisation, we’re open to innovative and different ways to tackle these challenges, and to work with our community to understand what’s most important to them,” she said.
The meeting was one of many in Ms Masters’ first week in the chief executive role .
Ms Masters came to the role after working in rural New Zealand, setting up an integrated family health centre.
“I loved that – I am passionate about integrated health and through that process brought three organisations together,” she said.
“I found I much preferred a rural setting to a clinic city setting and enjoy working in community health.”
Ms Masters said she had been looking for some time for a similar rural role and when the opportunity with Rural Northwest Health emerged she jumped at the chance.
“I spoke to recruitment, did my homework and found the organisation fits with my values – to be patient and community focussed,” she said.
“I am lucky to be at a stage of my life where I am more excited and can do the roles I enjoy rather than worry about where those roles are.
“This is a very pretty part of the world, so it wasn’t hard to make the move across to, what we in New Zealand call, the west island.”
Ms Masters said recruitment was a big goal for the organisation. “There is no quick fix and it is a competitive space so we are promoting our point of difference,” she said.
“We’re changing the way we work to be more appealing and show that the lifestyle here is a good way to go.
“We also have some health and aged care reforms underway, which will present a great opportunity for us.
“The reforms will push collaboration and that is something I strongly believe in – to have health organisations, councils and providers such as NDIS and the community to make sure we have the best services for better health outcomes.”