Professor Alan Merry (Chair)
Alan Merry is an anaesthetist who practises in chronic pain management at Auckland City Hospital.
He is Deputy Dean, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the University of Auckland. He is on the boards of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists and Lifebox, both of which aim to improve standards of anaesthesia and surgical care in low-income areas of the world.
His books, book chapters and papers in peer-reviewed journals reflect interests in human factors, patient safety, global health and simulation.
Dr Dale Bramley (Deputy Chair)
Dr Bramley, MBChB, MPH, MBA, FAFPHM, FNZCPHM is a 2003–04, Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice.
He is the CEO of Waitemata District Health Board (DHB). Waitemata DHB is the largest DHB in New Zealand and provides health services to 629,000 Aucklanders. Waitemata DHB has 7,600 employees and has a $1.7 billion expenditure budget.
Dale is a practising Public Health Physician and is the Chief Examiner of the New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine, a function he has held for the last eight years. He is also an adjunct Professor at Auckland University of Technology.
Appointed by the Minister of Health to the Board of the Health Quality & Safety Commission in 2014, Dale is currently serving his second term on that Board. Dale’s previous Ministerial Board appointments include to the National Health Commission, and the National Ethics Committee.
Dale also currently services as Board member of the Well Foundation, Northern Region Alliance and University of Otago Dietetics Programme External Advisory Board.
Dale has published extensively internationally with over 50 peer-reviewed publications to date.
His iwi affiliations are to Nga Puhi, Ngati Hine and Whanau Apanui.
Andrew Connolly
Andrew Connolly graduated from the University of Auckland in 1987 and is a general surgeon at Counties Manukau Health, specialising in colorectal surgery. He has a strong interest in education, training and clinical governance and has been head of department at Counties Manukau Health since 2003. Andrew was appointed to the Medical Council of New Zealand in 2009, the latter five years as Chair, completing his tenure in February 2019.
He has served on various ministerial committees to review aspects of the health system including the 2015 capacity and capability review. He is currently a member of the Southern Partnership Group to oversee the re-building of Dunedin Hospital, and has also served on several Australian Medical Council vocational college accreditation teams. Outside of medicine, Andrew has a strong interest in First World War military history.
Mr Robert (Bob) Henderson
Bob Henderson has a background in psychology, having completed a Master of Science with first class honours at the University of Auckland in 2001, and is a human factors specialist.
Bob has over four decades of experience in leadership, management, training and research roles. He served as a Royal New Zealand Air Force officer for 22 years gaining experience in a wide variety of roles. He subsequently worked for Air New Zealand for the past 21 years in the roles of aircraft captain, instructor, the Manager Human Factors Training and A320 Training Manager.
He is on the board of the Health Quality & Safety Commission, a member of the the Commission's Safe Surgery NZ Advisory Group and the ACC Neonatal Encephalopathy Task Force. He has been a board member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, based in Switzerland, since 2008.
As a consultant with Henderson White Associates he has had assignments within research organisations, and utilities, telecommunications and transport industries in New Zealand and Australia, introducing training programmes to improve their work practices and safety. He has also worked closely with the medical community in New Zealand providing training in Just Culture and human factors.
Dr Gloria Johnson
Dr Johnson is currently the Acting Chief Executive at Counties Manukau DHB. She is a graduate of the University of Auckland medical school, and completed training as a psychiatrist in Western Australia. As a specialist she worked initially in an academic post with the University of Western Australia, where her major research interest was psychiatric sequelae of stroke. She then moved to full-time private practice as a psychiatrist in both urban and rural settings, before returning home to Northland in 2003.
She was Clinical Director of Northland District Health Board's Mental Health Services for four years before taking up the post of Chief Medical Advisor there from December 2007. She completed an MBA and specialist training in medical administration during that time. In January 2012, she moved to the post of Chief Medical Officer at Middlemore Hospital, Counties Manukau District Health Board.
Dr Bev O'Keefe
Bev O’Keefe has a background in general practice and after several decades as a practice-owning principal GP in Rotorua, is now practicing part-time in Martinborough.
During a nine-year period she was Chair of the Rotorua General Practice Group IPA, and became the Deputy Chair then Chair of the IPA Council of NZ which then transformed into General Practice NZ. She has chaired the General Practice Leaders Forum and was a member of the National Health Board since its inception in 2009. She currently chairs the governance group overseeing the integration of the laboratory service in the three Wellington region DHBs.
Bev has served on a number of voluntary organisations and is currently a Trustee of the Wairarapa Hospice Community Trust.
Dame Alison Paterson
Dame Alison Paterson is independent director of Vector Ltd, director of Intueri Ltd, chair of Gareth Morgan Investments and is currently also chair of BPAC New Zealand Limited, Farm iQ Limited, Stevenson Agriculture Limited, Forestry Industry Safety Council, and the Governing Board of the Centre of Research Excellence for Growth and Development (University of Auckland).
She has made several firsts as a woman – her achievements include being the first woman to receive QBE’s Chairperson of Year award, the first woman to be appointed to a producer board (Apple and Pear Marketing Board in 1976) and the first woman appointed to the board of a New Zealand public company.
For the past 30 years Alison has sat on the boards of some of the country’s most august organisations.
Her QBE Chairperson of the Year award was given for her many years of outstanding leadership of a wide range of New Zealand private and public sector enterprises and organisations.
Alison was appointed dame companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business, in the 2014 New Year Honours List and was inducted into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame in 2015.
Ms Gwendoline (Gwen) Tepania-Palmer
Gwen Tepania-Palmer has a strong understanding of the health sector, including experience as a New Zealand registered nurse and is on the boards of a number of health sector providers. She holds a strong belief in health quality and safety combined with commitment, leadership and innovation in the health sector and enjoys the opportunities and challenges of being able to serve on an extremely important and dynamic Commission.
She is currently an appointed member of the Waitemata (from 2007) and Auckland (from 2010) District Health Boards, is Chairperson of the Ngāti Hine Health Trust (the largest Māori health provider in Northland), and is a board member of Manaia Health PHO. Ms Tepania-Palmer is also a former member of the National Health Committee. She holds a Master of Business Administration from Massey University, a certificate in health economics, and holds a Certificate in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors in New Zealand (inc).
Gwen is also a registered comprehensive nurse and registered psycho-paediatric nurse and is a Life Member of the National Council of Māori Nurses and a Massey University MBA Alumni member.
Her tribal affiliations are Te Aupouri, Ngati Kahu and Ngati Paoa Tainui. She is the mother of two adult children and the proud grandmother of three delightful grandsons/mokopuna.
