BOARD CHAIR - Natasha Prendergast

Team Leader Health Information Services, Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waitematā

I am deeply passionate about leveraging digital health and innovative technology to create positive change in communities. I have a unique background in business, Health Information Management and governance experience coupled with a pacific perspective of diversity thinking, a holistic world view and an inbuilt nature of togetherness.

For the last 6 years, I have been involved in the transformational change of moving to electronic patient health information within Health New Zealand, Te Whatu Ora Waitematā. I have had the opportunity to implement digital innovations, streamline processes, manage quality improvement initiatives and empower high-performing teams.

As a previous HiNZ Board intern, I am proud to be continuing on as a Board member..  

DEPUTY CHAIR - Niru Rajakumar

CEO - Hospitals, McCrae Tech

Twelve years ago, I joined a mission-driven health tech company with a vision to change how care is delivered. I started in the field, listening to clinicians, understanding the complexity of healthcare systems, and figuring out how to translate needs into technology that actually makes a difference.

Since then, I’ve led teams across Asia-Pacific, navigated the highs and lows of digital transformation, and helped governments and private providers modernise the way care is delivered from New Zealand and Australia to Southeast Asia.

Today, I’m proud to be leading a company born from deep healthcare roots and bold ambition. We’re building the next generation of hospital information systems - modular, intelligent, and deeply connected, designed to work for people, not just process.

What drives me hasn’t changed: I believe in the power of technology to connect care, in the value of listening over telling, and in building businesses where people and purpose lead the way.

Because at the end of the day, healthcare is personal and so is leadership.

BOARD MEMBER - Sally Britnell

Senior Lecturer, Auckland University of Technology

My name is Sally Britnell; I have a diverse clinical and digital health background. For example, as a Registered Nurse (RN), Ambulance Officer (AO), Academic and Informatician. One of the skills I pride myself in is communicating effectively with people from many backgrounds and acting as a bridge between practice, management and industry. For example, when working in an Emergency Department, as a Practice Nurse in Glen Innes and as an AO, clients were diverse and often from deprived areas of our community where English was not their first language. These roles have taught me adaptability, problem-solving, resilience, and strength and showed me the importance of valuing everyone and the need to change my communication and behaviour to match a situation and people. I believe this is a crucial strength I would bring to the HiNZ Board.

My Current work is as an Academic teaching nursing at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels with a particular interest in teaching informatics, innovation and communication. This role has included strategic planning, curriculum design, content development, public speaking and leadership with over 180 students and 15 staff to manage at any time. Similarly, I have worked in developing policy at a school level and been part of a team who developed Guidelines: Informatics for Nurses Entering Practice.

My friends often call me a geek - I have a passion for innovation and hold a PhD in Computer Science (Health Informatics). I am working on two projects in this area. One involves computer vision and remotely measuring children for ongoing care (such as Plunket visits). The other involves working with bio-engineers to develop a guide dog harness that is individualised to both dog and handler (at present, we are investigating 3D printing to achieve this).

As a disabled woman who works with a guide dog, I am keenly interested in Accessibility in Health Informatics. I have several projects in progress in this area, investigating mobile accessibility (non-web-based) guidelines, investigating the disparity in funding and experience obtaining assistive technology between ACC and MSD as well as investigating the convergence of assistive and mainstream technology. My work in this area as an influencer, providing feedback on policy coupled with my diverse background, has led me to become an Invited Expert for the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which is responsible for the design and upkeep of accessibility guidelines. In particular, I work with the Mobile Accessibility Task Force looking at accessibility in a non-web-based environment.

I believe I am an excellent addition to the board as I bring clinical, computer science and academic experience and pride myself on being a bridge between these sectors. I know HiNZ reasonably well, having been a member since 2014, working as a Co-Chair at conferences, being on the Executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Special Interest Group and being a part of CILN. I bring excellent communication and represent the disabled community while providing knowledge and experience in digital accessibility. I am interested in ensuring academic rigour and ethical influence while working to make the HiNZ board more accessible, inclusive, and available to everyday HiNZ Members. 

BOARD MEMBER - Ann Browett

Recently retired Clinical Business Analyst Lead and Scrum Master

My nursing career spans Emergency and Intensive care nursing (general and cardio-thoracic), Clinical nurse education and latterly informatics. I have worked in the public and private health care settings. Working in a digital services team with nursing as a mainstay provides a unique opportunity to inform and lead digital service teams about the requirements and opportunities for clinical teams. All clinicians are integral, with nurse’s key members for any digital transformation.

Throughout my career, I have remained committed to advancing the field of health informatics, reflected in my ongoing involvement with professional associations. and have previously served in several HiNZ executive positions, including as the inaugural Chairperson. My experience and dedication underscore my continued passion for health informatics and my desire to contribute to the sector’s ongoing growth and innovation.

BOARD MEMBER - Emma Collins

Senior Lecturer, Department of Nursing, University of Otago | PhD Candidate

Emma is a Senior Lecturer within the Department of Nursing, and the Dept of Paediatrics and Child Health, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago. She has a background in teaching medical students and nursing students for over 15 years and holds a Master of Nursing, specialising in Child Health.

Emma is currently undertaking a PhD looking at developing child health scenarios for teaching and learning using extended reality technology. Her nursing background is in paediatric nursing and remains working clinically in a paediatric inpatient setting. Her research interests are varied but include digital health, interprofessional learning, and mixed reality technology in healthcare education.

She is the current chair of the HiNZ Nursing and Midwifery Special Interest Group. She is a Fellow of HiNZ as well as a Senior Fellow for the Higher Education Academy UK.

BOARD MEMBER - Mark Dingle 

Board Chair, Midwifery & Maternity Providers Organisation | Principal Consultant, Evaluate Consulting Limited

For more than two decades, I have worked across healthcare and other sectors through my public sector consulting practice, leading complex programmes and delivering transformational change in demanding operational environments. Over that time, I have seen significant advances in digital technology — yet too often, those advances have not translated into better clinical or patient outcomes. It is time for that to change. 

We must start treating data as the valuable asset that it is. Too frequently, data is viewed as a transactional by product rather than a powerful tool to improve decision making, service delivery, and health outcomes. HiNZ has a critical leadership role to play in shaping this shift — supporting the sector to use information and technology in ways that genuinely improve care for New Zealanders. 

My career has focused on turning strategy into action. I bring deep experience in programme and project leadership, governance, and stakeholder engagement, with a strong track record of delivering results across complex, multi organisation settings. I am comfortable working with clinicians, executives, technologists, policymakers, and community stakeholders to design and implement change that sticks. 

In addition to my consulting background, I offer more than nine years of governance experience across private sector, NGO, and not for profit organisations. I understand the responsibilities of board stewardship, sound governance, and constructive challenge. I’m committed to contributing thoughtfully and collaboratively at the board table. 

BOARD MEMBER -Elf Eggimann

Clinical Portfolio Manager / Registered Midwife, Health New Zealand

I am a Clinical Portfolio Manager, registered midwife, and Executive MBA candidate with a strong track record of leading digital transformation and strategic innovation in healthcare. With over a decade of experience across clinical, operational, and informatics roles, I bring a unique ability to translate frontline realities into scalable digital solutions that improve patient outcomes and system performance.

Currently, I play a key role in national and regional cyber security incident response, supporting the health sector’s resilience through governance, risk management, and clinical input into cyber operations. As a member of the New Zealand Medical Assistance Team (NZMAT) and a trained CIMS Level 4 emergency responder, I contribute to crisis response and continuity planning at a multi-agency level.

My leadership is defined by a commitment to equity, culturally responsive care, and solving the “wicked problems” of health through co-design, clinical informatics, and digital enablement. I have successfully led programmes across maternity services, COVID-19 response initiatives, and cyber security readiness, using a systems-thinking lens to align strategy with real-world clinical needs.

An advocate for digital health equity, I believe that true leadership is grounded in teamwork, shared accountability, and transparent engagement with stakeholders. I am passionate about fostering cyber-aware clinical workforces, advancing informatics maturity, and building sustainable, secure, and connected healthcare ecosystems in Aotearoa.

BOARD MEMBER -Jo Goodfellow

National Service Development Manager, Access Community Health

Jo Goodfellow is a leader with extensive knowledge of the NZ health sector, encompassing primary and secondary, public and private care. She possesses excellent interpersonal abilities, strategic insight, and strong operational and management skills. Throughout her career, she has maintained a clear focus on excellent patient and customer experience and outcomes.

Jo is skilled at building trusted partnerships across a range of stakeholders and effectively managing stakeholders by listening to needs and influencing outcomes. She has proven ability in people leadership and change management, quickly building teams, setting direction, and driving rapid change through periods of uncertainty. Her experience also includes strategic and operational management, identifying areas for improvement and designing solutions to improve margins and increase return on investment, as well as managing projects end-to-end across complex systems. She is an experienced communicator at a governance level and can connect with diverse individuals and groups, shaping communication appropriately for the audience, including government ministries, Te Whatu Ora, Iwi, and community organisations.

Her career history includes roles such as National Service Development Manager at Access Community Health (Current), Central Team Manager at Tend Health Limited, and Medical Operations Manager / Covid Response Unit Manager / Incident Management team at Auckland Regional Public Health Service. Prior to this, she was Group Service Delivery Manager at Care Group, Regional Clinical Development Manager at St John, and Project Manager at Greater Auckland Integrated Health Network.

Jo holds a BSc Hons in Physiotherapy from the University of Birmingham, UK11, and initially trained as a Physiotherapist before moving into health management12. She has undertaken professional development including Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS) Level IV12, and Finance for Non – Financial Managers13. Her community contributions include volunteering with Auckland Rowing Club and Everybody Eats11.  

BOARD MEMBER - Rowena Woolgar

Director, Arise Consulting

With over a decade spanning allied health clinical practice, senior operational leadership, medium and large-scale digital and workforce transformation projects, and governance advisory roles, my work sits at the intersection of strategy and execution across Aotearoa’s digital health ecosystem.

I began my career as a speech-language therapist specialising in neurology, which gives me a grounding in person-centred care and the real world complexity clinicians, patients, and whānau face. I later transitioned through senior Project, Programme, Portfolio and Enterprise leadership, across health and non-health sectors at local, regional, national and international scale. This has included senior roles within one of New Zealand’s largest hospitals, participation in South Island-wide digital health governance groups, and close partnership with clinical leaders and technology vendors spanning a number of years and companies.

I now lead Arise Consulting, supporting Boards, executives, and sector leaders with digital transformation, operational uplift, disability inclusion, and workforce capability. My current work spans Health and Community Support Services input, Māori disability leadership and enterprise IT transformation in the energy sector. I’m an active contributor to the informatics community through the Clinical Informatics Leadership Network and recently appointed to the NAHSTIG Council. I’m passionate about ensuring digital health strategy translates into safe, equitable, and practical outcomes.