Doctors welcome Lester Levy appointment

General Practice NZ released:

General Practice New Zealand (GPNZ) welcomes Dr Lester Levy as the new chair of Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora.

“General practice and primary care are central to a functioning, robust health system and GPNZ looks forward to working with Dr Levy to address the critical issues we face,” says Porirua-based Specialist General Practitioner and Chair of GPNZ, Dr Bryan Betty.

Labour’s DHB merger into Health NZ has been a near disaster. However going back to DHBs is not the answer (a smaller number of DHBs was probably best as Heather Simpson recommended) and the sector can’t handle further reform. That means one has to try and get Health NZ to function well.

If anyone can do it, it probably is Lester Levy. He has a rare mix of medical and business skills. He has been a CE of a public hospital, a private hospital and the blood service. He’s been the Chair of three different DHBs, and of course is a doctor also. I hope he succeeds.