team

Our team

We are a small, diverse team with decades of experience in primary and community care.

We are experienced in large, medium and small scale transformation, leveraging from our network of health professional and lived experience advisors. We deliver at scale using an emergent approach, paced by our network of primary care providers and the communities that we serve in partnership with their people.

Jess Morgan-French

Chief Executive Officer

Jess Morgan-French

Chief Executive Officer

With a profound focus on Te Tiriti principles, Jess is dedicated to supporting and facilitating the delivery of timely and equitable care to whānau within primary care. Her background encompasses, practical implementation of the healthcare home model, coupled with extensive expertise in PHO management and operations. Based in Tai Tokerau, Jess is enthusiastic about infusing her infectious energy into the mahi here at Collaborative Aotearoa. Her invaluable knowledge, rich experience, and networks within the sector will undoubtedly be instrumental in advancing the organisational objectives.

Koral Fitzgerald

Strategic Project Manager and Change Leader

Koral Fitzgerald

Strategic Project Manager and Change Leader

Koral joined Collaborative Aotearoa as Change Leader on 6th December 2023.

Koral began her health career as a radiation therapist in Ōtautahi Christchurch then spent a decade managing CanTeen, supporting young people living with cancer. From 2014-2023, Koral was Senior Project Facilitator and Programme Manager for Canterbury Clinical Network (CCN) where she drove work across rural, pharmacy and population health arenas. She is enthusiastic about her identity as Tangata Tiriti, actively encouraging others to uphold our collective commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.  Koral is passionate about relationship development, continuous learning, advocacy and building health around our communities.

Koral lives in Ōtautahi Christchurch with her husband and son. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, DIY, learning new skills, cooking, reading, coffees with friends and is also a beekeeper.

Marama Buck

Strategic Project and Event Manager

Marama Buck

Strategic Project and Event Manager

Marama is a lifelong project and event organiser, recently joining the health sector with a passion for improving well-being in our communities. She has lent her expertise as a consultant for GPNZ, Pegasus Health, and Waitaha Primary Health, and most recently served as the Kaihautū / Māori Health Advisor for Waitaha Primary Health in Ōtautahi.

With nearly 20 years of experience as a kaiako and education leader, Marama brings a wealth of knowledge about how health and well-being impact whānau and the wider community. Her academic journey includes a Bachelor of Teaching and Learning, along with a postgraduate degree specialising in te reo Māori and Bilingual Education.

Marama resides in Ōtautahi with her wife and takes great pride in being a nan to their beloved mokopuna. An avid gardener, she enjoys growing kai for her whānau, viewing this as a meaningful expression of Tino Rangatiratanga and her commitment to self-determination.

In her role, Marama manages projects and coordinates events, and she is particularly excited about the upcoming 2025 Conference, where she looks forward to fostering connections and inspiring collaboration across our health networks

Ny Brunenberg

Strategic Project Manager and Digital Health Leader

Ny Brunenberg

Strategic Project Manager and Digital Health Leader

Ny has a diverse background and experience in Primary Care, Finance and Landscape Architecture and Design. She has come to Collaborative Aotearoa from a Quality Accreditation and Health Care Home position in Tū Ora Compass Health Network.

Ny is first-generation Cambodian-Kiwi and has grown up normalising her family’s story surviving the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia, providing a deep life experience and perspective of wholeness and wellbeing. She is enthusiastic in building relationships with people, so they are equipped with the tools and knowledge to help people persevere through adversities for themselves and deliver quality health care services to the communities they serve.

This role along with her experience from both General Practice and PHO gives her a creative edge in supporting access, implementing and embedding Digital and Telehealth services for all New Zealanders.

 

Dr Andy Williams, Feilding Health Care

Doctor Andy Williams at Feilding Health Care believes the HCH model of care works best when the clinician knows their patients. “If you know the patient, you can take the history over the phone, which means you just need to carry out the clinical examination upon arrival. It’s a more efficient way of operating.” One of the requirements of the HCH model, GP triage checks that the GP is available to their patients via phone for a specified time slot each day. This ensures continuity of care and more efficient patient management. The GPs are also encouraged to take ownership of their appointment books so that they have more control over their day, something Andy describes as essential to making the model work. He also believes the introduction of the patient portal re-establishes the patient/doctor relationship, by increasing patients’ direct access to their doctor, however it’s important the Doctor is already familiar with the patient before engaging these services.

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