New board members for ProCare

20 November 2013

New board members for ProCare

ProCare shareholders last night elected Drs Neil Hefford and Jan White and re-elected chair Dr Peter Didsbury to the company’s Board of Directors. The AGM attracted a record shareholder turnout. During the meeting Dr Didsbury paid tribute to the Board’s two retiring members, Drs Harley Aish and Doug Gillanders.

‘Doug was one of a number of prescient GPs instrumental in forming ProCare and has served in many capacities over the years, including chair of Homecare Medical Ltd (HML). Harley has also made an enormous contribution, on both national and local stages, and retires also as chair of ProCare Networks Ltd (PNL), says Dr Didsbury.

More than 70 people stayed after the AGM to hear guest speaker Olympic gold medallist, Emirates Team NZ member and New Zealand Olympic chef de mission Rob Waddell recount a few of his extraordinary stories about his relentless pursuit for excellence and the importance of team work.

New board members:

Dr Jan White (MBChB (Otago), FRNZCGP)
Dr White joined Mt Eden Medical Centre in 1984 and enjoys working as a full time GP. She is serving a fourth term as a member of the General Practice Council (NZMA), has been on the IT committee for the past two years and represents the NZMA at Primary Care Information Management meetings.

Dr White is a member of ProCare’s Pacific Heath Advisory Committee, as well as the Konnect Clinical Governance Group. Until recently she was a member of the Board of Medicine Mondiale. She says it is critical for primary care that GPs have a strong voice and relishes the opportunity to join ProCare’s board to help preserve and enhance general practice and improve patient care.

Dr Neil Hefford (MB ChB Auckland, FRNZCGP)
Dr Hefford has worked in his Grey Lynn practice for 22 years and is a long-standing member of the PNL Board. He also chairs the company’s Clinical Governance Committee and the Alliance Clinical Network for GAIHN.

Dr Hefford says the future of primary care is assured as the economics of funding and running health services from a hospital-centric focus is flawed. He believes general practice is crucial to quality healthcare delivery, with greater integration and scope within GP teams, community health workers, nurse specialists, pharmacy and clinicians becoming true multi-disciplinary teams. To achieve this, he says, political support is needed to develop incentive and funding contracts that favour primary care, work collegially with DHBs but with the determination to push back where necessary.

Re-elected:

Dr Peter Didsbury (MBChB. Dip Obs, FRNZCGP)
Dr Didsbury practices at the Clendon Medical Centre and is one of ProCare’s founding directors. He has chaired the ProCare Health Ltd Board for the last five years, is a past chairman of the New Zealand Guidelines Group and is a current director of BPAC (NZ) Ltd. Dr Didsbury also served as ProCare’s Clinical Director for many years during which time he won a Health Innovation Award; He says the company’s new statement of purpose to be a ‘cooperative of healthcare professionals committed to delivering world leading health services’ articulates his motivation. He wishes to continue advocacy for general practice being at the centre of a primary care focused health system.

ENDS

© Scoop Media