This is a list of chairpersons of district health boards (DHBs) in New Zealand. District health boards were organisations established by the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000, responsible for ensuring the provision of health and disability services to populations within a defined geographical area. They existed from 1 January 2001, when the Act came into force, to 30 June 2022. Initially there were 21 DHBs and that reduced to 20 in 2010. Boards were partially appointed by the Minister of Health, and partially elected as part of the country's triennial local elections. The Minister of Health appointed the chairperson and deputy chair, and they were commonly chosen from the people appointed to the board but sometimes, these roles went to elected members. A total of 83 people served as DHB chairpersons; this number does not include commissioners or acting chairs.
Composition of district health boards DHBs were partially elected and partially appointed. There were up to eleven members on the board. Seven of these members were elected as part of the New Zealand local elections. Up to four members were appointed by the Minister of Health and these appointments generally included the chair and deputy chair. Still, sometimes these positions were given to elected members. Appointments happened after the local elections. They gave the minister an opportunity to fill skill gaps on the board, e.g. appoint individuals with expertise in finance or with experience in the governance of large organisations. People could apply to the ministry to be appointed.
Inaugural chairpersons With the exception of four of the twenty-one district health boards, the previous Hospital and Health Service (HHS) board chairs were appointed as the inaugural chair. The Health Minister for the first round of appointments was Annette King and by 21 December 2000, all chairperson appointments were confirmed:
DHB Name Notes Auckland District Health Board replaced in December 2001 Bay of Plenty District Health Board replaced in December 2001 Canterbury District Health Board new chair Capital and Coast District Health Board Counties Manukau District Health Board Hawke's Bay District Health Board new chair Hutt Valley District Health Board Lakes District Health Board replaced in December 2001 MidCentral District Health Board concurrently chair of Waikato Nelson Marlborough District Health Board Northland District Health Board concurrently chair of Tairāwhiti; retired in Nov 2001 Otago District Health Board replaced in December 2001 South Canterbury District Health Board Southland District Health Board replaced in December 2001; became chair of West Coast Tairāwhiti District Health Board concurrently chair of Northland Taranaki District Health Board new chair Waikato District Health Board concurrently chair of MidCentral Wairarapa District Health Board Waitematā District Health Board replaced in December 2001 Whanganui District Health Board new chair; replaced in December 2001 West Coast District Health Board replaced in December 2001
December 2001 appointments Following the October 2001 local elections where seven board members were elected for each board, Health Minister King announced chairperson appointments on 12 November 2001. Twelve of the twenty-one chairs continued in their role. Two prior chairpersons were assigned to different boards. Of the remaining seven new chairs, five had prior tenure on a district health board, and two were new to DHBs. For three of the incumbents, it was signalled that they would be replaced within the coming term.
DHB Name Notes Auckland District Health Board new chair; concurrently chair of Tairāwhiti; previously chaired Northland Bay of Plenty District Health Board new chair Canterbury District Health Board continues in role Capital and Coast District Health Board continues in role Counties Manukau District Health Board continues in role Hawke's Bay District Health Board continues in role Hutt Valley District Health Board continues in role Lakes District Health Board new chair MidCentral District Health Board continues in role; concurrently chair of Waikato Nelson Marlborough District Health Board continues in role Northland District Health Board new chair Otago District Health Board new chair South Canterbury District Health Board continues in role Southland District Health Board previously the deputy chair Tairāwhiti District Health Board continues in role for a further year to assist in transition; concurrently chair of Auckland Taranaki District Health Board continues in role Waikato District Health Board appointed for a further year to assist in transition Wairarapa District Health Board appointed for a further year to assist in transition but served until September 2006 Waitemata District Health Board new chair West Coast District Health Board new chair; previously chaired Southland Whanganui District Health Board new chair
Changes during 2001–2004 term During the local government term, several changes occurred. Michael Ludbrook replaced Ian Wilson as chair of the Waikato DHB in June 2002. Wayne Brown was forced to resign as chair of the Tairāwhiti DHB. He had been appointed as chair for both Auckland and Tairāwhiti, but had also been elected onto the Tairāwhiti board. As an elected member, he was not permitted to also hold a position on another district health board. Rick Bettle left the West Coast DHB at the end of 2002 and after Dr Christine Robertson was acting chairperson for two months, King appointed Professor Gregor Coster as the new chair on 11 February 2003. Peter Glensor replaced Warren Young at the Hutt Valley DHB in June 2003. Gavin Doyle resigned from Whanganui DHB and was replaced by acting chair Patrick O'Connor.
DHB Incumbent Date Replacement Notes Waikato DHB June 2002 Wilson's retirement had been foreshadowed Tairāwhiti DHB August 2002 forced resignation due to an administrative error by the Ministry of Health; new chair from March 2003 West Coast DHB 2002 new chair from February 2003 Hutt Valley DHB June 2003 new chair from February 2003 Whanganui DHB ? acting chair since Doyle's resignation
December 2004 appointments Following the October 2004 local elections King changed only two of the incumbent chairpersons: new chairs were appointed for Nelson Marlborough DHB and for Counties Manukau DHB. Ross Keenan, who stepped down from being chair for Counties Manukau DHB, was appointed deputy chair for the three DHBs covering the Auckland region (Counties Manukau, Auckland and Waitemata) to achieve better collaboration.
DHB Name Notes Auckland District Health Board Bay of Plenty District Health Board Canterbury District Health Board confirmed for one further year Capital and Coast District Health Board Counties Manukau District Health Board new chair Hawke's Bay District Health Board Hutt Valley District Health Board chair since 2003 Lakes District Health Board MidCentral District Health Board Nelson Marlborough District Health Board was previously the deputy chair Northland District Health Board Otago District Health Board South Canterbury District Health Board Southland District Health Board Tairāwhiti District Health Board chair since 2002 Taranaki District Health Board Waikato District Health Board chair since June 2002 Wairarapa District Health Board Waitemata District Health Board West Coast District Health Board chair since 2003 Whanganui District Health Board O'Connor had been acting chair since Doyle's resignation; now confirmed as permanent chair
Changes during 2004–2007 term During the local government term, several changes occurred. Alex Grooby, the chair of the Nelson Marlborough DHB, died in July 2005. Pete Hodgson took over as Health Minister from Annette King in October 2005. Hodgson appointed Suzanne Win as successor to Grooby in Nelson Marlborough, effective 1 January 2006. Hodgson appointed Bob Francis to take over as chairperson for Wairarapa DHB from Doug Matheson on 28 November 2006. Dr Judith Aitken replaced Bob Henare for Capital and Coast DHB on 24 December 2006. Dr Patrick O'Connor resigned as chairperson of Whanganui DHB on 1 May 2007 and was replaced by Kate Joblin on 3 May 2007.
DHB Incumbent Date Replacement Notes Nelson Marlborough DHB 1 January 2006 Grooby had died in July 2005 Wairarapa DHB 28 November 2006 Capital and Coast DHB 24 December 2006 Henare had been on sick leave since an operation Whanganui DHB 3 May 2007
December 2007 appointments The 2007 local elections were held on 13 October. On 31 October 2007, David Cunliffe succeeded Hodgson as Minister of Health. Cunliffe released the list of board chairperson on 14 November 2007, where thirteen got reappointed, two moved to different boards, and four new chairpersons were appointed. Two decisions were left for later. On 14 December, Cunliffe announced businessman John Anderson as the new chairperson for the Capital and Coast DHB, who was to work alongside a Crown Monitor (i.e. a person who observes a board's decision-making, ensures government policy is reflected in board decisions, and who reports directly to the minister). The remaining decision was delayed until 27 February 2008 when Cunliffe sacked the entire board of the Hawke's Bay DHB, alleging that the board had become dysfunctional. Cunliffe appointed Capital and Coast DHB chair John Anderson as a commissioner for the Hawke's Bay DHB.
DHB Name Notes Auckland District Health Board moved to Auckland from Counties Manukau after Brown retired Bay of Plenty District Health Board reappointed Canterbury District Health Board new appointment as chair after he failed to get re-elected to the board Capital and Coast District Health Board appointed 14 December 2007; Crown Monitor also appointed that day Counties Manukau District Health Board moved to Counties Manukau from West Coast Hawke's Bay District Health Board appointed 28 February 2008 as Commissioner; board dismissed Hutt Valley District Health Board reappointed Lakes District Health Board reappointed MidCentral District Health Board reappointed Nelson Marlborough District Health Board reappointed Northland District Health Board reappointed Otago District Health Board reappointed South Canterbury District Health Board reappointed Southland District Health Board reappointed Tairāwhiti District Health Board reappointed Taranaki District Health Board new chair Waikato District Health Board new chair Wairarapa District Health Board reappointed (chair since November 2006) Waitemata District Health Board reappointed West Coast District Health Board new chair Whanganui District Health Board reappointed (chair since May 2007)
Changes during 2007–2010 term During the local government term, several changes occurred. Cunliffe appointed two Crown Monitors to the Whanganui DHB, but left the chairperson in place.
With the 8 November 2008 general election, the Fifth National Government came into power and the role of Health Minister was assigned to Tony Ryall. On 5 December 2008, Southland DHB chair Dennis Cairns foreshadowed his resignation; he chaired his last board meeting on 30 January 2009. In December 2008, Ryall foreshadowed that the board of Hawke's Bay DHB elected in 2007 would be reinstated from February 2009, with the current commissioner John Anderson taking the chairmanship. In February 2009, Kay McKelvie's and Jerry Rickman's resignations as chairpersons of the Waitemata and Waikato DHBs were announced, respectively. Also in February, Ryall sacked the Otago DHB chairperson, Richard Thomson, over a $17 million fraud by staff members and replaced him with immediate effect with Errol Millar. In March 2009, Ryall appointed Paul Menzies as the new chairperson of Southland DHB. In May 2009, Ryall announced Graeme Milne as the new chairperson for Waikato DHB. Dr Lester Levy's appointment as the new chair for the Waitemata DHB was announced in June 2009.