Chai Chuah

The Director-General of Health Stephen McKernan has announced the appointment of the first National Director to the new National Health Board.

"I am delighted to announce the appointment of Chai Chuah as the National Director of the NHB," says Mr McKernan.

Mr Chuah was seconded to the role of Interim National Director last October, and is well known in the sector. "Chai has been Chief Executive of Hutt Valley District Health Board since 2002 and has led a number of national health service and health information programmes."

"Chai's appointment follows a comprehensive search and recruitment process that included an interview with a panel that involved State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie; Liz Coutts, an experienced company director and chair of the Ministry's of Health's Audit, Finance and Risk Committee, and; NHB Advisory Board Chair, Dr Murray Horn."

Mr McKernan says the appointment of the National Director is a significant step in the development of the NHB Business Unit whose objectives include: Funding and monitoring of DHBs Determining which services should be planned, funded and provided at national, regional and local levels Strengthen the alignment of service planning, capital and capacity planning Strengthening and accelerating the linkages between IT, workforce and facilities capacity investment How best to support the government initiative to reduce bureaucracy

"We are fortunate to have someone of Chai's experience and calibre appointed to this role. While it is a loss to Hutt Valley DHB, I am confident he will contribute significantly to the improvement of health services through success in what is a very important national role."