Shayne Hunter
Deputy Director General of Data & Digital
Ministry of Health

Shayne Hunter joined the Ministry of Health in March 2019 as the Deputy Director-General, Data and Digital.
　　　
Shayne has spent the last 19 years in the health and disability sector where he developed a strong a passion for information and technology enabled improvements for the system and for the health outcomes for individuals and our population.

His previous role was as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Capital & Coast, Hutt Valley and Wairarapa DHBs where he was a member of the ELT for each district health board. He was also previously the chair of the Central Region DHB’s CIO group and the Chair of the Health Sector National IS Leaders Forum. Prior to his role as CIO, he was based at the Ministry and led a number of national initiatives in the area of medicines management.

Shayne started his career with IBM before leaving to establish a number of start-up business based on emerging technologies. From there he has held delivery and leadership roles in government and the private sector.

Ruth Large
Chair
NZ Telehealth Forum

Ruth graduated in Medicine in 1999 and spent time working in the outback of Australia and then in General Practice in New Zealand. She completed her Emergency Medicine training in Auckland, receiving Fellowship in 2007 and went on to Fellowship of the RNZCGP Division of Rural Hospital Medicine in 2013. She is an Emergency Physician and Rural Hospitalist working for the largest rural District Health Board in New Zealand. Her particular interests are in ultrasound, musculoskeletal and pain medicine and in the opportunities the digital world gives for equity of health outcomes.

Working as Clinical Director of Thames Hospital from 2012-2018 Ruth has found addressing the inequities of rural practice challenging. She has had a keen interest in Telehealth since her outback days and has been a member of the New Zealand Telehealth Forum since its inception in 2012 and Chair since 2017. She was appointed to the new position of Clinical Director of Information Services and Virtual Healthcare for the Waikato DHB in February 2018. Her clinical practice and her leadership roles allow her a glimpse into the future where patients have better access to the care that they deserve.

Ruth lives on a lifestyle block in the North Waikato with her farm consultant husband and three children, proving that you can have your cake and eat it too.

Nigel Millar
Chief Medical Officer
Southern District Health Board

Nigel came to New Zealand from the UK in 1992 as a Geriatrician and General Physician. He became Clinical Director of the Canterbury Older Persons Health Service in 1994 and then CMO in 2003 transferring to Southern in 2016. Nigel has worked to develop and improve health services, particularly for older people over the years including initiating and leading the InterRAI aged care assessment programme, leading the development of information systems regionally and nationally including the Health Connect South and Health One systems. Nigel has also played a role in disaster and emergency response including the Christchurch Earthquakes and more recently Covid-19. He continues clinical practice as a Geriatrician and Physician in addition to the CMO role. Nigel is a lifelong cyclist and advocate for active transport.

Webinar facilitator:

Becky George
Board Chair, HiNZ

I am passionate about advocating for Allied Health Professions across the health and disability system, particularly within digital health and innovations.  As models of care evolve we need to ensure that we the patient remains the focus in all perspectives of implementation.  I am currently a Doctoral candidate, undertaking a DHSc in Allied Health leadership and continue to work regionally and nationally, consulting on a number of digital health projects.  As a registered Occupational Therapist and an Associate Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Digital Health, I am also the elected chair of the Health Informatics New Zealand board of directors and chair of the Allied Health National Informatics Group. I am co author of the Allied Health National Data Set Standard and am on the Advisory Panel for the Clinical Informatics Leadership Network. As a member of HISO, the MoH’s Health Informations Standards group and of the Sector Advisory Panel for the National Health Information Platform, I am committed to ensuring good governance for digital health is in place.  I was honoured to be a finalist in the ITx, IT Awards for Excellence in Digital Health 2018, and last year was awarded the inaugural Clinical Informatics Leadership Award 2019 recognising achievements of a clinician working in Digital health in New Zealand.