Tanya Smith on what it's like living with Crohn's disease
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In What's It Like To… New Zealanders from all walks of life share stories of health & wellbeing. Here, Tanya Smith shares with Paulette Crowley what it's like to learn you have Crohn's disease and learn to manage the autoimmune condition.
My relationship with food has always been
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The Cabinet signed off on the exceptional fees; Health Minister Simeon Brown said the contingency would be drawn on only in 'exceptional circumstances' and approval is at his sole discretion. The pay levels are extraordinary and far outstrip the Government's recently increased fees guidance for board work; however, the amount of work on which the Health NZ fees are predicated is also extraordinary. Health NZ was established in 2022 through the combination of the country's district health boards (DHBs). It is the largest Crown-owned entity, its budget tops $27 billion, and it's responsible for either delivering or funding the vast majority of the country's healthcare. It is also struggling with deficit spending and poor financial management, specialist staff shortages, widespread complaints of burnout by clinical staff and long wait times for patients. Health NZ board chairman Lester Levy is up for a maximum payment of $450,000. 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By comparison, board costs at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the Financial Markets Authority come in well below the $1m mark – both are reckoned to be among the sector's best paid. Board costs for other large Crown entities such as Kāinga Ora (Homes and Communities) and ACC (Accident Compensation Corporation) are closer to half a million dollars. In June last year, the Government declared a loss of confidence in the Health NZ board, which it dissolved and replaced with Levy as commissioner and two deputy commissioners. A year of commissioners In fiscal 2024/25, Levy earned $320,000 as Health NZ commissioner, with additional expenses of $20,400, including: $10,600 for flights, $4855 for accommodation, and $2599 for taxis (parking and mileage made up the balance). Levy is Auckland-based and the work entailed frequent travel to Wellington, a Health NZ spokeswoman said. He worked alongside deputy commissioners Ken Whelan and Roger Jarrold; Health NZ has not yet released their fees and expenses. Levy is a professor of digital health leadership at the Auckland University of Technology and a medical doctor. His AUT workload is 15 hours per week, divided between research and teaching four courses (two per semester). Labour health spokeswoman Ayesha Verrall during a select committee hearing. Photo / Mark Mitchell Levy is also chair of the Health Research Council, a commitment of about five hours per week, a Ministry of Health spokesperson said. Labour's health spokeswoman, Ayesha Verrall, criticised the new board arrangements as a 'licence for Lester Levy to act like he is the executive director of the board, rather than its chair, centralising power to enact cuts and a hiring freeze'. Verrall also said Levy played politics when, as Health NZ commissioner, he attempted to shift some $130m in financial costs from fiscal 2024/25 into the previous financial year. The move was blocked by the Office of the Auditor-General, she said, but, if allowed, would have made HNZ's current financial predicament appear less dismal. There is little doubt that Levy's tenure to date has been one of highly centralised control. A May report on Health NZ's financial performance by the Treasury for Finance Minister Nicola Willis highlighted 'the commissioner's tight top-down financial controls' and his 'highly centralised' regime. The document, released under the provisions of the OIA (Official Information Act), also indicated that Levy has had some success this calendar year in reducing Health NZ's monthly overspend, but that his managerial controls may be 'unsustainably tight' as Health NZ shifts to a new operating model, including devolved budget accountabilities for regions and districts. Underscoring the political risk Health NZ's performance poses to the entire Government, the Treasury highlighted a new series of monthly health joint ministers meetings with Willis, aimed at keeping her abreast of 'financial performance, capability, and risk at Health New Zealand' over the next year. Fees guidance The Health NZ board fees eclipse those provided for in the Government's guidance. The fees framework for board pay was updated at the end of last month, and provided for an 80% pay increase for the boards of the largest and most complex Crown entities. The maximum fee for board chairs is now $162,200, and the maximum fee for board members is $80,400. The framework provides only guidance to ministers for setting fees, to provide consistency across Crown-owned bodies and to 'contain expenditure of public funds within reasonable limits'.
