Sir Chris Farrelly, of Whangarei, KNZM, for services to health and the community
Sir Chris Farrelly, of Whangarei, KNZM, for services to health and the community.
Sir Chris Farrelly was founding CEO of the Primary Health Organisation (PHO) Manaia Health in Whangarei from 2003 to 2016 and recently retired after five years as Auckland City Missioner. As Auckland City Missioner, Sir Chris led the development of the soon to be opened “Home Ground”, an innovative purpose-built healing facility to stand against homelessness, hunger, poor health and access to health care. Prior to his work at the Mission, he had long service in health in Te Tai Tokerau. Under his leadership, Manaia PHO achieved a significant Te Tiriti-based partnership between Māori Health providers, local hapu and General Practitioners. Recognising the social determinants of poor health and the role of social service agencies in health improvement, he was part of the formation of the Northland Intersectoral Forum, and was instrumental in initiating discussions with Fonterra that led to the establishment of the Milk in Schools programme. He was a founding member and Chair of the Te Tai Tokerau Healthy Homes Project, which has now insulated more than 12,000 homes, and helped establish two “one stop shop” youth initiatives.Sir Chris was an Executive Leadership Team member of the Northland DHB, serving in a range of health leadership roles between 1991 and 2003, including HIV-AIDS support and actively campaigning against discrimination on the grounds of health status, leading up to the Human Rights Act of 1993.