The conflicts of interest Lester Levy gave up for Health NZ

Wednesday, 16 October 2024

The Te Whatu Ora commissioner is confident his third job, on a private hospital's steering group, is not a conflict of interest.

Professor Lester Levy resigned from five private health sector roles that posed risks of conflicts of interest the day before he began working for Health New Zealand, The Post can reveal.

Last month Levy was accused of being a “part-time” commissioner when The Post revealed he was still teaching two days a week at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) despite taking home $320,000 to reset Health New Zealand.

Now Levy himself has confirmed he still has a laundry list of other roles, including Health Research Council chairperson and independent chairperson of two committees linked to Mercy Ascot hospital group, despite these being identified as potential conflicts of interest.

He has agreed to abstain from discussions and decisions if conflicts arise.

The day after an interview where The Post asked Levy about his ongoing links to the private sector, Levy emailed more than 1000 words providing a “comprehensive view of my disclosures and how conflicts or potential conflicts are managed” along with the interests register he provide to Health NZ in June.

In the interview, he stated he did not believe any of his private sector dealings posed conflicts in his efforts to reset the public health system.

Levy was named commissioner of Health NZ – Te Whatu Ora on July 22, a role which enables him to make major changes to spending on public hospitals, amid efforts to claw back a “monthly overspend” of more than $140 million.

Dr Lester Levy (second from left) pictured in his role as Independent chair of the Mercy Redevelopment Steering Committee in 2021 for a PR push on the private hospital's major development.

He has said he expects “increased interactions” with the private sector as part of plans to reduce waiting times, but said he does not stand to financially benefit.

“I have no investments, and it’s been some time since I've had any investments in the private sector,” Levy said.

On May 31, effective immediately, Levy stepped down as a director and independent chair at both the New Zealand Radiology Group (trading as Mercy Radiology) and Mobile Imaging Ltd, as well as independent expert advisor at the Ministry of Health “as these would have been conflicts”, Levy said.

“I received my letter of appointment as chair of Health NZ on 22 May 2024, so had a very short time to adjust my roles and activities by resigning and provided notice, which I did before starting in the role on 1 June 2024,” Levy said.

He remained in a further three roles, all as independent chair, for between two and four months, including two for radiology companies connected to a contract with Health NZ.

Health NZ commissioner Professor Lester Levy says he expects “increased interactions” with the private sector as part of plans to reduce waiting times but maintains he does not stand to financially benefit.

Since November 2023, NZ Radiology Group has had a contract to provide radiology services for Health NZ. Musculoskeletal Imaging Ltd and North MRI Ltd were approved facilities for this work, according to information released under the Official Information Act.

Levy was the independent chairperson of Musculoskeletal Imaging Ltd until September 30 and North MRI until August 27. He had no shareholdings in these companies.

“While I was serving notice they [the directors] could not engage in any commercial arrangements with Health New Zealand … if any of these companies decided to engage with Health New Zealand for contracts, they would notify me in advance and I would step down immediately.”

Regarding his ongoing work with a major redevelopment at Mercy Hospital, Levy said he’s “been through this with the Ministry [of Health]”.

“All I do is chair the steering committee. I'm not a director, I’m not an executive, I’m not an investor, I’m not a shareholder … it’s simply about a building.”

Challenged on whether it was sensible to be doing multiple jobs at once, given the significance of the commissioner’s role and the $320,000 payment he was receiving, he repeated that he was still doing “double what’s expected of me”.

“With my current commitments a 50-hour working week is standard. However, because of Health New Zealand issues I am consistently doing more than a 70-hour working week.”

He was confident he could maintain his work output for a year, saying “I’ve always worked six, seven days a week”.

Levy said he was happy to make his diary available, however The Post asked for Levy’s diary three weeks ago and was told it would be processed as an Official Information Act request.

Roles continued

Professor of Digital Health Leadership, AUT (role size reduced to accommodate the Health NZ role)

Chairperson, Health Research Council

Independent director, Cyclotron NZ.

Independent chairperson, steering groups for Mercy Hospital Facilities Re-development and MercyAscot Hospital Group Patient Administration System and Electronic Medical Record Implementation

Director/shareholder, Brilliant Solutions Limited – Levy’s personal consulting/advisory company

Director/shareholder, Mentum Limited – non-operative, Levy and his wife are sole shareholders

Resigned and stepped down on 31 May 2024

Independent chairperson and executive chairperson (2024), New Zealand Radiology Group

Independent expert advisor, Ministry of Health

Independent chairperson, Mobile Imaging Ltd

Resigned on 31 May 2024 with a four month notice period (reduced if replacements were made sooner)

Independent chairperson, Kakariki Hospital (stepped down July 31)

Independent director, North MRI Limited (stepped down August 27)

Independent chairperson, New Zealand Musculoskeletal Imaging Limited (stepped down September 30)