MedTech Sector Leader Resigns After 30-plus Years In Role

Faye Sumner, CNZM, chief executive of the Medical Technology Association of New Zealand (MTANZ), will resign later this year after more than 30 years leading the thriving medical devices sector in New Zealand. MTANZ is the only national association representing companies in the medical technology industry.

Ms Sumner intends stepping down from the top job around the middle of the year once her successor has been appointed and settled into the role.

“It has been such an honour to represent the New Zealand medical technology industry and know what a critical role MTANZ members play in supporting the healthcare sector. But it’s time for me to concentrate on other interests and my current directorships of organisations like the NZ Heart Foundation and the NZ Standards Approval Board,” she says.

MTANZ Board president, Erin Currie, says her Board recognises the substantial contribution over many years that Ms Sumner has made to the development and growth of the MedTech sector in New Zealand, and its strong profile and connections in the global MedTech sphere.

“The CEO role at MTANZ will be pivotal to continue to ensure the benefits and advances of medical technology are accessed for the health and wellbeing of all New Zealanders. This year the health sector expects to experience significant changes. Some of the proposals MTANZ aims to contribute to are the Health and Disability Review recommendations, progress with medical device regulations and an independent review of PHARMAC.

“The search for the new CEO will create an exciting opportunity and will be handled by Amy Tea Consulting, Auckland,” she concludes.

Ms Sumner was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2018 in recognition of her 30 years’ service to the medical technology sector in NZ and internationally.

The award citation acknowledged the relationships that Ms Sumner had developed between MTANZ’s major stakeholders across the health sector, including Government agencies and the NZ Government, providing leadership in market access, therapeutic regulations, and international trade.

She has provided governance through a range of Board appointments in the medical and research fields. She is recognised as an authority internationally on medical device ethics and code of conduct as a member of the APEC Code of Business Ethics for the Medical Devices Working Group.

She is also a founding Board member of the Global Medical Technology Alliance (GMTA), a membership of 30 national or regional medical technology associations, who represent innovative companies that currently develop and manufacture 85 percent of the world's medical devices, diagnostics and equipment.

Ms Sumner has served on the NZ Universities’ Medical Technologies Centre of Research Excellence Governance Board since 2014 and the University of Auckland School of Medicine Foundation since 2004.

“It has been a privilege to work with so many committed and passionate people who bring innovative medical technology and devices to the NZ market to improve and save lives. I am particularly proud of the way the sector rallied together to support the country’s health sector during COVID-19, the Whakaari/White Island disaster and the Christchurch Terror Attacks, showing agility and humanity,” comments Ms Sumner.

“Our fast-growing manufacturing medical device sector earned export revenues of more than $1.5 billion dollars last year with huge potential to contribute to New Zealand’s economic recovery.”

Ms Sumner says she is grateful to her supportive Board and Secretariat and is looking forward to taking on new challenges and will always seek to advance the interests of the medical technology sector.

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