Media release from Well Health

From this Thursday (1st July) Wellington's South East and City Primary Health Organisation - popularly known as SECPHO -  will embark on a new road under the name Well Health.

The change in name and identity has come about as a result of a merger with the Porirua Health Plus PHO and in response to a Government directive for there to be fewer PHOs throughout New Zealand.

A community celebration is being held in the Wellington suburb of Newtown on Wednesday (30th June) to mark the end of an era as SECPHO and the beginning of the transition to becoming the Well Health PHO.

Well Health's acting CEO Justine Thorpe said that the end of SECPHO is an event "tinged with sadness" for the local community, as is also the case for Porirua Health Plus.  

"We are grateful that the Capital & Coast District Health Board have got behind the merger in an open and transparent way and are fully supportive of the steps we are taking to ensure we control our own destiny on behalf of our special communities. This reflects the value that this DHB has placed on the role of community-led primary health care for a long time and is a credit to them," said Justine Thorpe.

"Other PHOs like ours that work to ensure very low cost access to high needs communities do not seem to be faring as well, so we recognise that we are fortunate in Wellington to have this opportunity to move ahead with an exciting new presence for community-led primary health at a time when the changes being made in the primary health sector are having uncertain or negative consequences related to anomalies and inequities in the funding systems".

"As SECPHO's current chief executive I can say that we will be entering the new era as Well Health in a positive frame of mind and in good heart. We are also fortunate that just last year the community development approach of SECPHO was the subject of a case study report titled Doing Difficult Things Differently as a collaboration with the Families Commission and Inspiring Communities," said Justine Thorpe.

"That phrase, doing difficult things differently, captures what community-led primary health is all about. Equally, it is also about performing as a reliable partner and as a strategic broker across the sector to effect change - within member organizations and beyond, from the local community level to the government policy level".  

"In the case of SECPHO our national reputation and approach as a successful community-led PHO has been intertwined with and underpinned by the pioneering leadership and ongoing legacy of the Newtown Union Health Service (NUHS), one of the 30 plus member organizations that have made up SECPHO - including both primary care practices and social service NGOs".

"Through ethically managed community-based engagement and innovation we continue to make a difference for our vulnerable communities that other PHO models limited to narrow, one-dimensional concepts of 'health promotion' will never make".

Wednesday's SECPHO celebration will take place at Newtown's Trinity Union Church in Hall Avenue from 12.30pm until 4.30pm. It will feature a range of kai, cooking, speakers and entertainment.