The Leadership Team is responsible for management matters for Te Whatu Ora Te Tai o Poutini West Coast.
You can also find out about our national leadership team on the Te Whatu Ora national website.
Philip is responsible for the health services provided by Te Whatu Ora Te Tai o Poutini West Coast’s team of nearly 1000 staff from Karamea to Haast.
He has senior management experience in the private and public sectors, developing and building teams that excel in achieving their objectives. Philip’s experience in New Zealand and overseas, across diverse industries, provides him with a wealth of experience to support teams to look outside the box.
Philip is passionate about rural health care delivery and how the West Coast health system can lead the way in this area, providing consistent, high quality, person-centred care to the West Coast community.
Dan Pallister-Coward is the Regional Director for Hospital and Specialist Services for Te Waipounamu. Dan held leadership positions within the former Canterbury District Health Board for nine years, including General Manager for Burwood Hospital and the services covering Older Person’s Health, orthopaedics, community rehabilitation services and community dental services. For the past six months he was interim National Chief Operating Officer.
Dan sees the Regional Director role as an exciting challenge in today’s environment of innovative change with focus on equity. “I look forward to strengthening our relationships across the community in partnership with iwi, growing the trust to influence change, while growing the teams to meet future demands on our services.”
Dan brings strong leadership, partnership and relationship skills that continue to be applied wider than the health sector, with a passion for continuous development, curiosity and self-awareness that enables him to transition across environments.
Karalyn is responsible for the Communications team, which interacts with the media and public and keeps staff informed of what’s going on in the DHB. The Communications team is responsible for external and internal communications, which includes publications and health campaigns. Karalyn has been in this role since 2011. Before that she was a senior advisor at the Ministry of Health. She has also worked at Hawke’s Bay District Health Board and the office of the Minister of Health. She is a member of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand and International Association of Business Communicators.
Rob Ojala leads the facilities redevelopment for Te Whatu Ora, Te Waipounamu (South Island). Rob is an Emergency Physician by training and has been with Canterbury DHB for the past 20 years following completion of his specialist training in Melbourne.
He has been clinical lead for facilities redevelopment for Canterbury DHB for 10 years prior to his current role. During this time he has overseen the delivery of the Burwood Hospital redevelopment and extensive change on the Christchurch Hospital campus with a new Outpatients Building being constructed, and Waipapa the acute services facility. During 2021 his focus is on the redevelopment of the remainder of Christchurch Hospital, redevelopments and new facilities for specialist mental health services on the Hillmorton campus along with a number of other facilities projects.
Rob also continues his clinical practice as an Emergency Physician at Christchurch Hospital’s Emergency Department.
David Green is an experienced financial controller with over 23 years of experience in the Health Sector, including 17 years as the CDHB Financial Controller.
Jacqui joined the West Coast DHB leadership team in November 2018. She is a qualified occupational therapist, and was previously Chief Health Professions Officer for the Scottish Government.
Her experience spans the public and private healthcare systems in the UK, and includes clinical leadership positions, founding and running of her own business, and advising the World Health Organisation. In 2015 Jacqui was made a member of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to healthcare and the health care professions.
Becky works closely with the Directors of Nursing and other nursing leaders across the Canterbury health system. As EDON she holds several portfolios including Care Capacity Demand Management, Infection Prevention & Control Nursing, Nursing Workforce Development, and Corporate Quality and Patient Safety teams. Becky is also the Canterbury Executive Lead for Manawa Governance which includes simulation, research and education as well as for Te Papa Hauora (Health Precinct) Advisory Council.
Becky is a Registered Comprehensive Nurse and has worked in nursing since 1982, completing both a Postgraduate Diploma in Leadership and Management as well as a Masters in Health Science. She has previously been a Nurse Manager for Workforce Development, working with the EDON and Directors of Nursing for the past 15 years. Becky is a member of Nurse Executives of New Zealand, and the College of Nurses Aotearoa.
Norma held the position of the Director of Midwifery within a transalpine role for Canterbury and the West Coast DHBs for four years, after moving from her previous 17 year national role with the College of Midwives into the DHB system and the operational space of a large tertiary facility that provides referral services for much of the South Island. At the same time Norma had responsibility for sustaining community units at Lincoln/Selwyn, Rangiora and Ashburton, as well as responsibility for the remote rural maternity systems in the Chathams, Kaikoura and the West Coast and how to sustain care closer to home.
Since 2017, Norma has, with colleagues, driven the development of a Maternity Strategy for both Canterbury and the West Coast. The same pillars have been used for the districts but two very different strategies have emerged following hui in both districts. The solutions can often have the same overlying framework, but locally applied solutions which make sense to the local community are what make the difference within such frameworks.
Within her role, Norma sits on various multi-disciplinary groups that link to community and public health work, as well as Christchurch Campus and Greymouth Campus work.
Norma is a Registered Midwife and has worked in hospital and community settings since 1990, where māmā and their pēpi have always been at the centre of her work.
The Regional Wayfinder role is responsible for providing rangatiratanga leadership to multiple locally-based Commissioning teams across the relevant region in order to ensure that locality teams are able to support their local communities and whānau in the pursuit of Pae Ora.
Chiquita has held a variety of nursing leadership roles and has been Chief Executive of the MidCentral district’s Primary Health Organisation, THINK Hauora since 2013. Chiquita is passionate about whanau and community led solutions and has strongly advocated a pro-equity approach to health service delivery.
Vince Barry is the Regional Director for the National Public Health Service across Te Waipounamu. Vince was the first Regional Director to be appointed and took up the role in August 2022. His role is focused on leading public health services at a regional level and working in partnership with colleagues at Te Whatu Ora, Te Aka Whai Ora and the Public Health Agency.
Page last updated: 15 December 2023
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