Sir Peter Blake leadership award for Shelley Campbell

By Grant Johnston

Shelley Campbell has played a significant role in a number of revolutionary and highly successful primary health care initiatives in this region.

The Te Awamutu 40-year-old health executive’s performance and personal qualities have seen her collect one of just six Sir Peter Blake Emerging Leader Awards made nationwide in 2007.

Proudly Te Awamutu born and bred, she says she hopes her award is further proof that “you don’t have to move to Auckland or Wellington to run a large business. I love living in Te Awamutu and it’s a great place to bring up a family,” she says. “I’m rapt that I can live in a great country town and still enjoy the career opportunities that I have had.”

Her role as chief executive for Waikato Primary Health sees her covering an area from Taumarunui to South Auckland and across to the east coast. This is what the selection panel had to say:

“Shelley has played a significant role in health care as chief executive of the nation’s second largest Public Health Organisation. During her tenure she has led the implementation of the Primary Health Care Strategy in the Waikato and has built a variety of relationships and initiatives with others. A number of these initiatives have become models for the nation. These include a collaborative dental project with the Ministry of Social Development with low income clients, rural scholarships to encourage workforce retention, multiple projects to improve access to health care for high need populations, the ‘Fit 4 School’ project which has become the prototype for the Ministry of Health’s new ‘Ready 4 School’ project.

“She sits on a wide range of health and inter-sectoral groups and her leadership is widely respected by staff, the wider community and by health professionals both in the Waikato and nationwide. As a person, Shelley’s strength lies in her ability to focus and motivate others to push boundaries and find solutions. She listens carefully, plans thoroughly and acts decisively. She is a woman with charisma, known for her strong work ethic and desire to ensure that health funding is directed into services and not bureaucracy.”