Healthcare Leadership - New Zealand Health Group

Leadership

New Zealand Health Group Executive Team

Mike Peters

Chief Executive

Mike joined New Zealand Health Group from Spotless Facility Services & Downer NZ. He held the dual role as General Manager Human Resources and General Manager Integration. He successfully led the overall integration of Spotless NZ into Downer NZ, encompassing business functions, people, processes and systems.

As an experienced human resources leader, Mike has held senior roles in prominent companies such as Fairfax Media, Fonterra and Goodman Fielder.

Mike’s experience in leading change, developing people and organisational development strategies, coupled with his “people focused” style brings tremendous value to New Zealand Health Group. He has a strong focus on excellence, delivering results and building collaborative relationships across business and stakeholders such as the unions.

Mike was the winner of the HRINZ Young HR Practitioner of the Year Award in 2009/10.

Veronica Manion

Chief Operating Officer

Veronica Manion is the Group Chief Operating Officer for the New Zealand Health Group. She is responsible for a team of 700 office-based staff coordinating the work of 8,000 frontline workers in New Zealand’s largest health and community support provider.

Veronica, known as Ronni, is passionate about ensuring people receive great health, disability and community support at home and in their communities. She is particularly focused on continual improvement and developing new models of care that meet changing population needs and funder requirements, as well as making good business sense.

Ronni has deep experience in the operational delivery of services. She been accountable for the delivery of a wide range of services throughout her career. From ensuring small, targeted service lines deliver bespoke solutions to clients, through to high volume management of standardised packages. This experience, coupled with an eye for detail and her astute risk radar, means she understands how to navigate service delivery in a continually changing environment.

Ronni is also a supportive leader and forges enduring relationships with stakeholders. She is passionate about developing leaders and providing opportunities for everyone to grow and learn. She is well networked across the sector and with government agencies.

Prior to her current role, Ronni spent time within Geneva Healthcare (now an entity within the New Zealand Health Group) including as Chief Executive Officer for three years. Her nursing qualification, coupled with her experience in nursing recruitment, has also afforded her critical frontline experience as well.

Ramesh Vedachalam

Chief Finance Officer

Ramesh is our Chief Finance Officer (CFO). He is responsible for all finance activity across New Zealand Health Group including managing acquisitions and integrations, execution of strategy business integration, payroll, procurement, forecasting and negotiations.

Ramesh has several years of senior finance executive experience in media and fast-moving consumer group (FMCG) businesses. Before joining New Zealand Health Group, he was the Head of Finance Integration at Television New Zealand (TVNZ) and CFO of Stuff New Zealand where he led the local management buyout of Stuff.

Ramesh brings a wealth of experience and results in leading and mentoring teams and delivering financial stability. Through his people-focused and collaborative leadership style, Ramesh is delivering results and building relationships across New Zealand Health Group.

Peter Radich

Chief Digital Officer

Peter has over 20 years of experience with IT vendors, senior IT private and publicly listed organisations. He has key experience with modern cloud based services, Business Intelligence and application development across Australia and New Zealand.

As the Group Chief Digital Officer, he provides support and advice to the Group CEO and the Board and is responsible for ICT strategy, development, operations. Peter works across the Group to improve efficiencies through standardisation, implementing the latest cloud solutions with a strong IT security mandate. This will enable the organisation to deliver innovative services to market while providing a stable and secure platform for the Group’s continued growth.

Before joining New Zealand Health Group, he was the Chief Information Officer for a large trans-Tasman publicly listed healthcare organisation which he lead into the cloud.

His leadership style is communicative, inclusive and open, believing that people are the heart of everything we do.

Suzanne Payumo

Chief Quality, Health and Safety Officer

Suzanne leads the overall quality assurance and health and safety activities within New Zealand Health Group. She brings over 10 years of experience in quality assurance and also has a background in business management.

Suzanne has a strong focus on continuous improvement and is committed to working with the greater team to ensure the people we support achieve a high level of service satisfaction.

Josh Coll

Chief People Officer

Josh has been with New Zealand Health Group since 2019, having held a variety of senior HR leadership roles over the past 10 years.

Arriving from Spotless and Downer, where as Employment Relations Manager he oversaw a national HR team serving 10,000 kaimahi, over the years Josh has honed his skills in both Employment and Industrial Relations portfolios. Josh now brings these skills to bear for New Zealand Health Group, building cohesive workplace cultures across a wide variety of sometimes challenging environments.

He has a passion for enabling leaders to grow, and an ethos of keeping things simple while having fun doing the job he loves.

David Hughes

Director Health and Wellbeing Services

David brings a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to promoting health and wellness within New Zealand.

David’s extensive background in health and wellbeing and disability services management, along with his innovative approach to wellbeing, will be invaluable as we continue to lead and promote our multiple businesses in the Health and Wellbeing Directorate. With more than 25 years of experience, David is a nationally recognised leader in health and human services, holding an Honors Degree in Occupational Therapy. He has previously worked in various roles at NZ Health Group, most recently as the General Manager for Rehabilitation and Disability Services at Geneva Healthcare.

David has spent the last four years at the highly regarded Hardy Group, where he has played a pivotal role in executive leadership development and leading high-profile recruitment and appointments in both the government and private sectors for executive positions. He joins us with extensive sector networks and a deep understanding of the current state of our national health and disability systems across New Zealand.

Amanda Bleckmann

Director Disability Services

Amanda Bleckmann has joined New Zealand Health Group as the Director of Disability Services. She will be leading Explore, Geneva Deaf & Disability, OTRS, and Seating To Go.

Amanda brings deep expertise in the health and disability sector and a strong values-driven approach to her work. Most recently, Amanda served as the Deputy Chief Executive (Commissioning Design and Delivery) at Whaikaha – Ministry of Disabled People. In this role she led the commissioning portfolio, where she led the commissioning of disability support services for over 50,000 disabled people and their families/whānau. She also oversaw the Enabling Good Lives sites and supported the transformation of disability supports. Amanda worked closely with her colleagues in other government agencies, community partners, and community leaders.

Amanda is passionate about ensuring disability supports are responsive, relevant, and reflect the aspirations of disabled people. She is a strong advocate for innovation, continuous improvement, and empowering disabled people to have greater choice and control in their lives.

Lindie Van Wyk

Director Home and Community Support Services

Lindie is a seasoned registered nurse with a career spanning back to 2003, boasting a diverse background that includes pediatrics, emergency medicine, primary healthcare, well baby, family planning, and employee wellness. With extensive experience across various roles in home and community care, including clinical management and oversight, Lindie has most recently served as General Manager for Service Delivery at HealthCare NZ.

Her wealth of knowledge and expertise make her a valuable asset in actively contributing to the well-being of our clients, assisting with the strategies to enable clients to live their best lives. Lindie’s influence and respect within the sector are evident through her leadership in developing industry guidelines, further solidifying her reputation as a trusted professional in the field. As a respected leader and innovator, Lindie is dedicated to enhancing the quality of care and support provided to our clients.

Natalie Berry

Director NZCL

Natalie Berry is a senior leader with over 27 years in the disability sector and currently serves as Director of NZCL | Manu Whaikaha. She is committed to ensuring disabled people and their whānau to have real choice and autonomy.

Natalie has strong people management skills, technical expertise, and a proven ability to lead teams through change and build effective partnerships. Her leadership emphasises inclusion, and cultural responsiveness. She has a strong interest in driving initiatives that enhance workforce capability, implement robust feedback systems, and ensuring consistent compliance and quality assurance across NZCL.

Leadership

New Zealand Health Group Executive Team

Mike Peters

Veronica Manion

Ramesh Vedachalam

Peter Radich

Suzanne Payumo

Josh Coll

David Hughes

Amanda Bleckmann

Lindie Van Wyk

Natalie Berry

Southland

Homecare Services

Disability Services

Health & Wellbeing

Recruitment

Training

Otago

Homecare Services

Disability Services

Health & Wellbeing

Recruitment

Training

Canterbury

Homecare Services

Disability Services

Health & Wellbeing

Recruitment

Training

West Coast

Homecare Services

Disability Services

Health & Wellbeing

Recruitment

Training

Nelson/Marlborough

Homecare Services

Disability Services

Health & Wellbeing

Recruitment

Training

Tasman

Homecare Services

Disability Services

Health & Wellbeing

Recruitment

Training

Wellington

Homecare Services

Disability Services

Health & Wellbeing

Recruitment

Training

Manawatu/Whanganui

Homecare Services

Disability Services

Health & Wellbeing

Recruitment

Training

Taranaki

Homecare Services

Disability Services

Health & Wellbeing

Recruitment

Training

Hawkes Bay

Homecare Services

Disability Services

Health & Wellbeing

Recruitment

Training

Gisborne

Homecare Services

Disability Services

Health & Wellbeing

Recruitment

Training

Bay of Plenty

Homecare Services