‘Humbled’ health stalwart honoured

John Peters has been dynamic in better healthcare channels for Nelson Tasman for more than 20 years.

They include senior roles with the region’s hospice and an eight-year term in the top job at Nelson Marlborough District Health Board (DHB).

He was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2025 New Year Honours for services to governance and palliative care, an honour he says was dedicated to all local hospice workers.

“I was somewhat surprised and very humbled by it, but I have to say, I was delighted to be selected as one of the representatives of such an amazing organisation,” he says.

“Every one of those people who work within hospice, both volunteers and those employed, do stunning work on a day-to-day basis for all of those people in the Nelson Tasman region, and I felt that accepting this was a bit like accepting on their behalf,” he remarks.

John was first elected to the Nelson Tasman Hospice board in 2013 and became its chair a year later after the retirement of the late Elspeth Kennedy, and has held the position since.

In the pivotal role, he oversaw the  fundraising of nearly $13 million for the Nelson Tasman Hospice building, which was opened by then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in May 2019.

The service has gone from strength to strength under John’s watch.

“We have 280 people receiving end-of-life care in the community, 10 inpatient beds, most of the people who go in come out again after having their symptoms controlled or their pain managed,” he says.

“The majority of people actually choose to die at home, and we provide care for them at home, and that care can include pretty intense nursing care, even things like helping them go out to the gardens if they’re not able to do it.

“We’ve got 520 volunteers who work for us, about 105 staff, so it’s quite a sizable organisation,” he says.

John was the Hospice New Zealand deputy chair in 2014, was re-elected in 2017, before stepping down in 2019, but is still a member of the organisation.

John’s health posts also included Nelson Marlborough DHB’s chief executive from 2004 to 2012, during which time Golden Bay’s integrated health facility was constructed.

“There has always been a local hospital in Golden Bay, but it was very run down, and there was a private rest home in Collingwood, which was having to close because of lack of funding, and it was just too small to survive,” he says.

“That would have meant that anybody who had reached the age of going into a rest home would not have been able to do so in Golden Bay.

“So, when we were planning for the refurbishment of the hospital, I managed to persuade the Health Minister at the time to allow us to extend and put a 20-bed rest home into that hospital, which is still there today.”

The Nelson Hospital’s cardiology unit was also established during John’s DHB tenure.

“That specialised cardiology unit is typically a tertiary service… and we were extremely lucky to have two very good senior cardiologists from the UK which meant that we were able to establish what’s called the cardiac cath lab in Nelson,” he says.

“What it meant, was that people who had suffered severe cardiac events like heart attacks previously had to be choppered either to Christchurch or to Wellington, and what we were able to do was avoid that by getting treatment some hours earlier.”

Johns’ other plaudits include independent chair of the Nelson City Council’s Audit Risk and Finance Committee and Strategic Development Committee between 2014 and 2022, and global director of information for the New Zealand Dairy Board from 1998 to 2001.

While he moved permanently to Waitārere Beach near Levin in 2022, the “Nelsonian at heart” will remain involved in Nelson Tasman’s palliative care in the years to come.