Lester Levy leaves Health NZ - Mark Darrow takes chair

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

Lester Levy concludes his tenure as Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora board chair at the end of this month with Mark Darrow taking over from May alongside new board members Michael Schubert and Bryan Betty.

Health NZ chief executive Dale Bramley paid tribute to Levy’s service over nearly two years, saying he has overseen system stabilisation and achieved significant improvements in patient access during his time as chair and previously as commissioner.

Bramley says Levy also achieved a turnaround in financial performance during this time, describing it as “twin feats that are seldom achieved simultaneously."

Health Minister Simeon Brown announced the new appointments, saying Darrow brings expertise in finance, audit, risk, and assurance, which will be critical to driving performance and accountability.

Michael Schubert joins the board as a professional director with experience in financial stewardship, audit and risk, and organisational change in complex, regulated environments including health.

Bryan Betty, currently chair of General Practice New Zealand, brings clinical and health system expertise, particularly in primary care. 

"Primary care is central to the performance of the health system," Betty says. 

"I am committed to ensuring it is well supported and connected, particularly across the primary–secondary interface, workforce development, the sustainability of general practice, and improving equity of outcomes."

The board changes occur as Health NZ prepares to transition to a nationally planned, locally and regionally delivered health system from 1st July 2026.

"This will shift decision-making closer to patients, communities and frontline services, helping ensure care is more responsive to local needs,” Minister Brown says.

However, the Public Service Association Te Pukenga Here Tikanga Mahi warns that board changes alone cannot address systemic funding issues, particularly in digital services.

"At the end of the day, changing the Board will not help unless the Government provides the increased funding the public health system urgently needs," says the union’s national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons.

"One priority must be digital services which a modern public health system relies on. Under this government hundreds of experienced digital experts have been lost, upgrades have stalled, and hospitals have been left with a legacy of IT outages that have forced clinicians onto whiteboards and paper forms. You can’t run a modern health system like that.”

Image: Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora board chair Lester Levy speaking at Digital Health Week 2025

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