The NZIHE Executive met recently in Christchurch for the 2021 Annual General Meeting.
New Zealand Institute of Healthcare
President’s Report: October 2021
We have just made it through another crazy year, and it appears we are getting used to a number of different sayings like, quarantine, social-distancing, self-isolation, panic-buying, community transmission and many more. As the world scrambles to contain the effects of COVID the role of health engineers has become even more sharply defined.
Health engineers and project teams all work together to keep patients safe by managing buildings, services, and equipment. They are in effect the hidden heroes that keep things running smoothly for front-line staff. COVID has proven how quickly and effectively health engineers work with other health teams to make critical changes.
COVID has once again affected our main event, the NZIHE annual conference, which has been postponed until November 2022. The NZIHE Executive team really hoped to pull it off this year and with the support of professional conference organisers had a great event lined up. The annual conference is a key component of our activities and is a highlight for those that attend. The conference is still planned for Christchurch and will involve some excellent speakers, trade exhibitions and great networking. The AGM is usually held during the conference each year, but this year will be held online via Zoom.
The NZIHE budget although strong is having to be maintained without conference income. As with last year, the NZIHE Executive Team used Zoom as one of their main meeting settings, and each time this was delivered in a professional manner. This allowed for reduced expense in terms of our venue and travel costs.
I can’t forget those who keep NZIHE ticking. The Executive Committee this year has been working well considering the workloads we all have. Each person delivered in a year that was challenging and which threw multiple curveballs. The achievements we can boast of this year are a result of team effort. 2020-2021 has seen a number of changes to the NZIHE Executive team, with the resignation of Max Christiansen and Kevin Flower due to ill health. I really want to acknowledge the work they have both contributed over many years. We have also welcomed a number of new exec members, feel free to follow the link on our website to read the bio’s of the exec team. https://nzihe.org.nz/meet-the-team/
As president, I really have been standing on the shoulder of giants, and the tributes go to previous presidents and exec members that have come before me. It is also true for the members, thank you to each and every one of you for being a part of our New Zealand health engineering institute.
Having you all on the journey as a close-knit group of health engineers is extremely valuable, as it has been since its NZIHE’s inception around 85 years ago.
I thank you for your ongoing support and wish you a great Christmas and New Year.
Kind Regards
Gavin Carey-Smith
President NZIHE
