Chief Operating Officer appointed

28 June 2004

Chief Operating Officer appointed at Capital & Coast DHB

The newly appointed Chief Operating Officer for Capital & Coast DHB has a wealth of experience; including running hospitals, running hospital departments - and even running marathons.

C&C DHB chief executive Margot Mains has today announced the appointment of Meng Kee Cheong as the DHB’s new Chief Operating Officer (COO).

“I’m very pleased that a candidate of Meng’s calibre has agreed to fill this important role, which entails running our hospital and health services,” Margot Mains said.

For the past two years Mr Cheong has been General Manager of Auckland and Greenlane Hospitals. His previous experience includes stints as General Manager of Surgical Services at Counties Manukau DHB, and General Manager of Ambulatory Care Services at South Auckland Health. He also previously ran an Independent Practitioners Association, and played leading roles in the financial management of several health boards.

“His work as General Manager of Auckland and Greenlane Hospitals included the successful migration of departments from those hospitals to the new Auckland City Hospital. That sort of experience will be extremely valuable at C&C DHB, where we are in the midst of creating major new facilities at Wellington Hospital and Kenepuru Community Hospital,” Margot Mains said.

“That role saw him creating improvements in a range of key areas, including average length of stay and theatre productivity, and successfully leading over 3,000 staff. His new role will see him responsible for a similar number of staff.”

When not at work, Mr Cheong, who is married with two children, trains for his next marathon and actively participates in his local church. He will be moving to Wellington and will take up his new role within the next 8-10 weeks.

“I want to extend a warm welcome to Meng, and at the same time pay tribute to John Peters who has done an excellent job in the role of Interim Chief Operating Officer over the past three months. John will continue in that role until the transition occurs, and I look forward to ways in which we might continue working with him in other capacities,” Margot Mains said.

ENDS

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