22 May 2018

Acting CCDHB chief executive named Health Ministry head

6:31 pm on 22 May 2018

The current Capital and Coast District Health Board chief executive has been named as the new head of the Health Ministry.

Acting chief executive of Capital & Coast District Health Board Ashley Bloomfield

Ashley Bloomfield Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller

Ashley Bloomfield will take on the director-general role next month for a five-year term.

Health Minister David Clark said Dr Broomfield understands the health system, has strong relationships in the sector and will be an outstanding leader.

Previous director-general Chai Chuah resigned in December before his term was due to end.

Some doctors commented at the time that the Ministry's relationship with the health sector had become strained under his management.

Biography

  • Dr Bloomfield has been the acting chief executive for Capital & Coast District Health Board since 1 January.
  • From 2015-2017, he was chief executive of the Hutt Valley District Health Board - the first clinician to lead the Hutt Valley District Health Board.
  • In 2017 Dr Bloomfield attended the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme.
  • Prior to becoming chief executive at the Hutt Valley DHB, Dr Bloomfield held a number of senior leadership roles within the Ministry of Health, including, in 2012, acting deputy director-general, sector capability and implementation.
  • From 2012-15 he was director of service, integration and development and general manager population health at Capital & Coast, Hutt and Wairarapa District Health Boards.
  • From 1999-2008 he was a Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine. Since 2008 he has been a Fellow of the NZ College of Public Health Medicine.
  • In 2010-2011 he was partnerships adviser, Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental Health at the World Health Organization, Geneva.
  • Dr Bloomfield obtained a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at the University of Auckland in 1990.

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