New Board member: Dr Karl Cole

Congratulations to Dr Karl Cole who has been elected as the new College Board member. 

Dr Cole, of Ngāi Tahu descent, works as a GP in Papatoetoe, South Auckland. He set up and is a co-owner of a purpose-built multidisciplinary Health Hub. His other role is Chief Clinical Information Officer at the Auckland/Northland regional ICT company, Health Alliance. Over the years he has worked in various clinical, strategic, and operational roles and is well connected in the sector across both community and hospital level care, with much of his work focused on linkages. 

For 15 years he served in the New Zealand Defence Force as a medical officer, which involved deployments in UN missions including as the medical officer to the New Zealand Special Forces.

Dr Cole has extensive experience within ICT-enabled change and is passionate about patient-centred care with an emphasis on self-management. The knowledge that Dr Cole brings will complement the wide-ranging skills and experience of the Board as it works to provide effective governance and support the College’s Statement of Strategic Intent (Te Rautaki). Dr Cole will formally step into this role after the AGM, which will be held on Saturday 23 July at the College conference in Christchurch.

The College acknowledges Dr Lynne Coleman MNZM and Dr Chandra Jayaraman who ran alongside Dr Cole and thanks them for their interest in the role.