Farewell to an Inspirational Leader and Health Forum

06 Jul 2017

The news in June that the 6th Asia Pacific Forum (APAC) due to be held on the Gold Coast in September this year is to be cancelled and Ko Awatea scaled back will no doubt come as a shock to many.

APAC had become a fixture on the annual calendar that CEOs, Quality and Safety practitioners and executives from around the world could draw sustenance and ideas from as they workshopped, listened to presentations and networked with peers and international and national innovators and practitioners.

Professor Jonathan Gray, Professor of Health Innovation and Improvement and Director of Ko Awatea leaves New Zealand with his head held high and he can be proud of what he and his team created over the past seven years. They gave New Zealand an international profile, a sense of pride in their quality and safety initiatives and achievements, and, proved yet again that New Zealand were out there punching above their weight. APAC developed into a premier forum for the Asia Pacific region and drew participants from 30 – 40 different countries to share experiences, strategies, change initiatives and ideas.

Thank you and good luck to Jonathan and the Ko Awatea team as they go forward to their next adventures and challenges in improving quality of care and patient safety. Your work and learnings from Ko Awatea will go with you for the benefit of society.

I’ll leave you with a lovely image from our time at Ko Awatea