Helen Algar to retire from Board of Waitaki District Health Services

Published on 05 May 2023

Waitaki District Health Services (WDHS) is saddened to announce the pending retirement of Helen Algar QSM from its Board at the end of June.  Ms Algar has been a long-standing Board member having served for over 10 years and is currently the Board Chair.

Oamaru Hospital Chief Executive, Keith Marshall, said “Helen will be hugely missed by us all.  She has been an absolute rock for our hospital.  And, on a personal level, Helen has been an absolute delight to work alongside as Chair; her insight and commitment to our community and to our hospital, staff and patients, has been enormously inspiring to me.” 

The Mayor of Waitaki District Council, Gary Kircher, also paid tribute to Ms Algar.  “I know I speak on behalf of Council and for our wider community when I say that Helen has been a stalwart and unrelenting champion for our hospital.  She has had an unwavering commitment to securing the future of our hospital and its essential role in the health services for our community.  I am personally very pleased that she decided to stay as Chair of the Board to see the job through.  Our community owes Helen a huge debt of gratitude for all her efforts over many years.”   

Ms Algar extended her personal thanks to Mr Marshall and the Oamaru Hospital team for their ongoing hard work and efforts in overseeing the turnaround at Oamaru Hospital over the past 18 months.  “Having sat on this Board for such a long time, I can safely say that Oamaru Hospital is in the best hands possible.  Indeed, I am hugely grateful that Keith and the team’s efforts pulled off the amazing job they did around our securing new funding contract.” 

“Ongoing Council support for the hospital has been incredibly important throughout my time on the Board”, said Ms Algar.   “Before I left the Board, I wanted to make sure that Oamaru Hospital was in good shape and had a solid future.  It is extremely satisfying to me personally to know that after years of work behind the scenes, we have at last, properly secured the future of our local hospital through our new funding contract. Accordingly, now feels like the right time for me to step aside and let others take the reins and guide the future of Oamaru Hospital.”