Broodkoorn, Margareth

Jocelyn Peach
Jul 19, 2024
3 min read

Updated: Jan 6

Chief Executive of Hauora Hokianga (Hokianga Health Enterprise Trust), a charitable organisation in Rawene, Te Tai Tokerau

RGON, Bachelor of Health Science, MHSc Nursing

Margareth Broodkoorn signs her contract as the new chief executive officer of Hokianga Health Community Trust, with trust chair Frank Herbert

Margareth, of Ngāpuhi and Dutch whakapapa, is Hokianga-born. She is proud to be a New Zealand registered nurse with a career that includes clinical practice, leadership, operational management, strategic, governance and education roles within Aotearoa, New Zealand.

She began her training at Greenlane Hospital, Auckland, in 1986 and graduated in 1990 in one of the last hospital-based training programmes at Greenlane School of Nursing. She completed a Bachelor’s degree at Unitec (1996), then a MHSc Nursing 1st class Hons at the University of Auckland (2006); with her thesis title “He Puawaitanga no nga Ao e rua; The Best of Both Worlds”, exploring the relationship between kaupapa Māori and participatory action research methodologies in supporting Māori community development.

Margareth clinical practice has included haematology, general surgery, and gynaecology and obstetrics theatre nursing. She has undertaken education roles at Manukau Polytech [MIT] and University of Auckland [UoA] specialising in kawa whakaruruhau/cultural safety and Te Tiriti o Waitangi training. She progressed into management and leadership roles as the assistant Director of Nursing: Māori with Auckland DHB, managed a Māori health provider service. Between 1995 and 2000 she was the chairwoman of Tamaki Makaurau Nurse Leaders Roopu and worked with Māori health providers in Northland, Manukau Institute of Technology and Auckland University.

Margareth returned home to Hokianga as a community development manager before starting the Te Tai Tokerau Northland DHB Director of Nursing role in 2010 for ten years. As the sole DHB Director of Nursing who identifies as Māori, she sponsored Ngā Manukura o Āpōpō, the national Māori nursing and midwifery workforce development programme. The Ngā Manukura o Āpōpō programme has graduated over 160 leadership candidates, developed an ePortfolio for nurses and midwives, piloted the Poutama programme (a workplace competency assessment framework) and published a midwifery mapping project and tertiary education scorecards.

From 2019-2022 Margareth Broodkoorn was appointed as New Zealand’s first Māori Chief Nursing Officer with the Ministry of Health. Margareth will be working alongside Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield who reviewed the whole second tier of the Ministry, developing new roles and appointing new people to his team. One of her first opportunities was to work with a new set of colleagues. She led the nursing accord group, chaired the Well Child Tamariki Ora advisory group, and oversaw planning of the International Year of the Nurse in 2020. She supported surgical mesh consultation with people affected by surgical mesh complications. During the pandemic, Broodkoorn established and led the Ministry of Health’s infection prevention and control team for the COVID-19 response, providing clinical guidance on the use of personal protective equipment across the health and disability system.

Margareth has been involved with an executive member of the National Council of Māori Nurses, a member of the Health Workforce New Zealand Nursing Advisory Group and had extensive involvement in the work of the Nursing Council of New Zealand.

Though she planned to stay in the role with the Ministry of Health for at least five years, she left to become the Chief Executive of Hauora Hokianga (Hokianga Health Enterprise Trust), a charitable organisation in Rawene, Te Tai Tokerau. “There was an expectation from my whānau and community to come home when the time was right… it was always my dream to come home and be chief executive of this hospital”.

Margareth was recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours and Platinum Jubilee honours list in 2022 as Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) for services to health and Māori recognition for her work, clinical, educational and leadership roles.