National PRIME Committee

We are pleased to announce the new Hauora Taiwhenua Board that was voted on during the AGM on the evening of December 4th.  Fiona Bolden was reappointed for a further 2-year term as Chair, which is a testament to the energy Fiona has put into the role to bring Hauora Taiwhenua into existence as a collective and establish the organisation as a key influencer in rural health advocacy. Her commitment to rural communities is unwavering and grounded in her work as a rural GP working most recently on the Coromandel. 

For years, our rural healthcare workforce has known intuitively that those in rural areas have poorer health outcomes than those in urban areas, but there has been no clear data to show this. In 2022, academics from Otago and Waikato Universities developed a geographical definition of rurality for health purposes, finally enabling the sector to compare the health outcomes of those living in rural areas with those in or near cities.

Please find the link below for Hauora Taiwhenua's submission for to ACC on changes to ACC regulations for Chinese Medicine, Paramedics and Audiometrists. Thank you for the opportunity to make a submission on changes to ACC regulations for Chinese Medicine, Paramedics and Audiometrists. Hauora Taiwhenua Rural Health Network has a vision of healthy and thriving rural communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. We strongly support the proposed changes as they will contribute to achieving this vision.