Ms. Mary Bonner, the new Head of Capital & Coast District Health Board, is booming with confidence that she will handle the financial pressures without getting the patients care affected.

Ms. Bonner is currently the Head of Townsville Health District in Queensland and has started as the Chief Executive at the DHB in Wellington in March. The announcement was made yesterday.

In her reaction, Ms. Bonner said, "I really love working in health and when the opportunity came up to work in Capital & Coast I just could not resist another challenge."

She is aiming at building confidence in the community and also in the services which is supposed to be delivered both in the hospital and in the primary health services. She believes that community has a greater role to play in the health services. They must be groomed to learn how to reduce the overuse of the medical services.

Both, the former Chief Executive, Mr. Ken Whelan, and the Acting Chief Executive, Mr. Shaun Drummond, came to the Capital & Coast from Townsville Health. But they refer to that as a mere coincidence.

However Ms Bonner clearly stated, "The job would be tough. The big challenge is continuing to meet a growing patient need in a tight fiscal environment." There is a huge debt to be paid back which is a serious issue for Wellington.