Sharon Shea

MNZM
Portrait photo of a woman with glasses
Shea in 2019 wearing a korowai
Born
Sharon Norma Shea

Tauranga Hospital, Tauranga, New Zealand
Occupation(s)Chairperson, board member
Known forHealth governance
SpouseMorris Pita
Childrenthree boys

Sharon Norma Shea MNZM is a New Zealand chairperson. She has various governance roles and holds board memberships, mainly in the health sector. She was the penultimate chairperson of the Bay of Plenty District Health Board before its disestablishment and the co-chairperson of the establishment board of the Māori Health Authority.

Early life and family

Sharon was born at Tauranga Hospital and belongs to the Borrell and Tangitū family, with her iwi affiliations Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāi Te Rangi. Her hapū is Pirirākau. She was raised in Te Puna and then in Mount Maunganui. She received her education at Omanu School, Mount Maunganui Intermediate, and Tauranga Girls' College. At the University of Auckland, she graduated with a conjoint Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degree.[1][2] She is married to Morris Pita[3][4][5] and they both went to England to study for a master's degree at the University of Oxford in 2001 and 2002; Shea gained a degree in comparative social policy. They returned to New Zealand in 2002 or 2003 (sources differ) to start a family.[2][6] Shea and Pita have three boys.[7][8]

Professional career

Shea initially worked as a lawyer[8] but has worked in the health sector since the mid-1990s and describes herself as "a recovering lawyer".[2][9] She is a director on a number of company boards and owns several companies herself.[10] She was the strategy manager for the Northern Regional Health Authority.[11] Regional health authorities were succeeded in 2001 by District health boards, and those have governance boards that are partially elected (seven members) and partially appointed (up to four members; appointed by the minister of health). Shea was appointed to the Northland District Health Board taking effect on 6 December 2010.[a][12] She was reappointed twice and served until 4 December 2019.[13][14] In December 2016, she was concurrently appointed to also be a board member of Auckland District Health Board where she served one term.[14] At both Northland and Auckland DHBs, she chaired subcommittees.[11] With effect of 9 December 2019, Shea was appointed deputy-chair to Michael Cullen on the Bay of Plenty District Health Board.[15] Cullen stood down from most of his public roles in March 2020 after announcing that he had been diagnosed with stage IV small-cell lung cancer[16] Shea was appointed acting interim chair[17] and board member Ron Scott was appointed acting deputy chair. On 13 April 2021, Shea was appointed as permanent chair, with Geoff Esterman appointed as her permanent deputy chair.[18]

In 2018, the government initiated a review of the health and disability system.[19] She was chairperson of the Māori Expert Advisory Group that was established for this review.[11] The major outcome of this review is that district health boards are to be disestablished, to be replaced by one central agency, Health New Zealand, with a Māori Health Authority working alongside it to manage Māori health policies, services, and outcomes. Government announced the governance team of these new agencies in September 2021 and Shea was appointed to the board of Health New Zealand and co-chair of the Māori Health Authority alongside Tipa Mahuta.[b][11] One of the issues that Shea wants to address is vaccine hesitancy by Māori, resulting in low vaccination rates. Apart from people living in remote areas having difficulty with access, there is distrust in authority caused by "post-colonisation trauma".[9] She stated that "some of the issues are intergenerational and they're complex and they're not going to be solved by an ad on TV." She sees the Māori Health Authority having a role in a "mātauranga Māori [Māori knowledge]-informed COVID-19 roll-out".[9]

Shea is one of five trustees of the MAS Foundation, a philanthropic organisation that belongs to the mutual society MAS, with membership made up mainly of New Zealand health professionals.[21]

Awards

In the 2019 New Year Honours, Shea was appointed Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) "for services to Māori health and development".[22]

Notes

  1. ^ DHB membership commences in early December following the local elections in October of every third year—in this case the 2010 local elections—and lasts for three years after the next local elections.
  2. ^ Mahuta is deputy-chair of Counties Manukau District Health Board and a younger sister of Nanaia Mahuta[11][20]

References

  1. ^ "Sharon Shea announced as first Māori Board Chair of Bay of Plenty District Health Board" (Press release). Tauranga: Bay of Plenty District Health Board. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "First permanent Māori board chair appointed at Bay of Plenty DHB". Stuff. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Minutes of the meeting of the Northland District Health Board: held on Monday 6 March 2017" (PDF). Northland District Health Board. p. 1. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Healthcare Applications Limited". Open Corporates. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Shea Pita & Associates Limited". Open Corporates. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  6. ^ Kuraia, Louise. "Sharon Shea". 100 Māori leaders. Henry Rongomau Bennett Foundation. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  7. ^ "Sharon Shea". The Resilience Doughnut. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Sharon Shea". Brightstar. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  9. ^ a b c Wilson, Megan (2 October 2021). "Māori Health Authority: What Sharon Shea hopes to achieve as co-chair". Bay of Plenty Times. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Sharon Shea announced as first Māori chairperson of Bay of Plenty District Health Board". Bay of Plenty Times. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Government announces team leading new Health NZ and Māori Health Authority". Radio New Zealand. 23 September 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Appointments/reappointments to District Health Boards". New Zealand Gazette. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  13. ^ "Appointments/reappointments to District Health Boards". New Zealand Gazette. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Appointments / reappointments to District Health Boards". New Zealand Gazette. 8 December 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  15. ^ "Appointments / reappointments to District Health Boards". New Zealand Gazette. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Sir Michael Cullen resigns from roles due to stage-four lung cancer". Radio New Zealand. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  17. ^ "Deputy chair to take reigns at Bay of Plenty District Health Board as Sir Michael Cullen steps down". Bay of Plenty Times. 12 March 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  18. ^ "Sharon Shea announced as first Māori Board Chair of Bay of Plenty District Health Board" (Press release). Tauranga: Bay of Plenty District Health Board. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  19. ^ "Health and disability system reforms". Ministry of Health. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  20. ^ Clarke-Mamanu, Mānia (5 October 2016). "Tipa Mahuta refutes National election rumors". Te Ao Māori News. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  21. ^ "Trustees appointed to the MAS Foundation" (Press release). MAS. 2 December 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  22. ^ "New Year honours list 2019". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
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