High Cost Taranaki Health Blunder
The situation in Taranaki’s public health bureaucracy with two chief executive officers being paid salaries totalling
$520,000 has been described as a wasteful shambles by New Zealand First health spokesperson Pita Paraone.
“Taranaki District Health Board suspended chief executive John O’Neill in October last year and soon after he was put on
indefinite sick leave on full pay.
“In the meantime a new CEO from the South Island was hired and is being put up in a hotel and flown home at weekends,”
said Mr Paraone.
“Why is the Government allowing two people to be paid for one senior public health job?
“This is totally unacceptable. Taxpayers are forking out $10,000 a week to two chief executive officers in Taranaki when
many local people are forced to wait years for operations due to a lack of funds.
“Local health boards are running at a huge deficit, yet in Taranaki they are paying two people for one job - as well as
travel and accommodation costs for one of them.
“This has gone on for nearly four months and is making a mockery of the health system and the government should stop it
immediately,” said Mr Paraone.