GenPro Board Of Directors Strengthened With Appointment Of New Elected Members

The General Practice Owners Association of Aotearoa New Zealand (GenPro), whose objectives include providing strong, credible and effective national representation for New Zealand’s network of General Practice and Urgent Care business owners, has confirmed the results of its annual Board election which will see two new Board appointments strengthen representation on behalf of its member general practices and urgent care centres across the country.

GenPro announced the results of the election at its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 19 October 2021 and confirmed that the candidates successfully elected to fill the two Board vacancies are:

• Dr Deborah Johnstone, Gore Medical Centre
• Michelle Te Kira, Three Rivers Medical, Gisborne

GenPro Acting Chair, Dr Angus Chambers, said “I am delighted that GenPro members have elected two new Board members of the highest calibre. The skills and expertise that both Dr Johnstone and Ms Te Kira bring to the Board will significantly strengthen the Board’s ability to successfully represent, and advocate for, GenPro members. I am excited that they will be joining the Board at a time of continued growth for the Association and I look forward to working with them both”.

Dr Deborah Johnstone, is a contracted General Practitioner at Gore Medical Centre.

Dr Johnstone is passionate about general practice sustainability, particularly for the rural and remote communities within which she lives and works. She has a whakapapa to Kai Tahu, Kati Mamoe, Wai Taha southern iwi.

Dr Johnstone will bring tenacity and persistence to the GenPro Board as recently demonstrated through her successful approach to the Ombudsman who supported her view that general practitioners should be paid for their work in preparing written reports for the Coroner – an issue which GenPro has separately raised with Parliament’s Regulations Review Committee.

Upon hearing of her election success, Dr Johnstone said, “I look forward to working with GenPro on the solvable issues of creating sustainable services and funding models. I am really pleased to have the chance to be involved in an Association that recognises the importance of sustainable, viable and high-quality general practice”.

Michelle Te Kira, is General Manager of Three Rivers Medical in Gisborne – an owner-operated VLCA general practice with almost 20,000 patients of whom approximately half are Māori.

Of Ngati Porou descent, Ms Te Kira has worked in the health sector since 2005 and is passionate about reducing inequalities in health care and working with very high needs and Māori populations.

Ms Te Kira brings considerable understanding of the primary care policy and contracting landscape to the GenPro Board. She currently also holds the position of Executive Chair for the Practice Managers and Administrators Association of New Zealand (PMAANZ) and is a member of ACC’s Advisory Group for Primary Health as well as the newly formed Primary and Community Advisory Group established to support the work of the [health reform] Transition Unit.

Ms Te Kira said, “I strongly supported Three Rivers Medical joining GenPro and am now delighted to have been elected to the Board. GenPro is much needed by a sector which is faced with significant challenges including gaps in the funding model and having to provide services to our most vulnerable populations on the smell of an oily rag, which is just not acceptable”.

Dr Johnstone and Ms Te Kira join the GenPro Board with immediate effect.

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