Working with the community to ensure patients receive the best care and health outcomes possible.
Champions for the best healthcare.
Established in 2014, Well Foundation is the official charity for North Shore and Waitākere Hospitals. We have a bold ambition to empower public healthcare by harnessing the generosity of the community to support projects that make a meaningful difference for everyone.
At the heart of our impact are individuals and organisations, like you. Donations enable new and improved care environments for patients and visitors, innovative technology and the latest clinical equipment, advanced training for clinical staff and healthcare programmes that go beyond the hospital.
Without community support, advancements in medical care and delivery would be much slower. Working together is the only way we can achieve what is necessary for a healthier tomorrow.
Champions for the best healthcare.
Established in 2014, Well Foundation is the official charity for North Shore and Waitākere Hospitals. We have a bold ambition to empower public healthcare by harnessing the generosity of the community to support projects that make a meaningful difference for everyone.
At the heart of our impact are individuals and organisations, like you. Donations fund state-of-art facilities, enable clinical innovation, support patient and staff wellbeing, create spaces of comfort and dignity, and even launch pilot programmes that reach beyond the hospital walls.
Without community support, advancements in medical care and delivery would be much slower. Working together is the only way we can bridge the gap for a healthier tomorrow.
About Us
A single act of generosity can send ripples through our community.
Our Team
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Ruth Morse
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Ruth has worked in marketing and communciations in both the corporate and non-profit sector in the UK and NZ. She has a passion for the role philanthropy plays in improving healthcare experiences and was the corporate partnerships manager for the Starship Foundation and was the fundraising manager for Helen and Douglas House, a children's hospice in Oxford, England.
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Ruth is a North Shore resident, whose son was born at North Shore Hospital and also spent time working as a student midwife so understands the impact well resourced healthcare plays in improving patient experiences and outcomes. She is passionate about ensuring those living in the Waitematā community have access to the very best healthcare.
021 263 1415
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Heidi Wilde
DIRECTOR OF FUNDRAISING, PARTNERSHIPS AND COMMUNICATIONS
Heidi is originally from the UK, having worked in Australia and New Zealand over the past 6 years. She has a background in finance, marketing and the charity sector in New Zealand, most recently working in sport as the Funding and Partnership Manager at Paralympics New Zealand.
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Heidi has lived on the North Shore since arriving in New Zealand 5 years ago and recently had her first child at North Shore Hospital. She has an enormous passion for the people and the place in the world she now lives, and wants to do the best for her local community.
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Michelle Goldfinch
FUNDRAISING MANAGER
Michelle’s background is in teaching, administration and fundraising. She has been in the non-profit sector for the past five years with her most recent role as the Fundraising Executive at KidsCan. Prior to that Michelle was an early childhood teacher.
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Michelle has a passion for people from all walks of life and forming relationships through sharing stories and connections. She especially loves working in and being a part of the local community and ensuring fair outcomes for everyone. Michelle has been a local resident of the North Shore for the majority of her life and both her children were born at North Shore Hospital.
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Jenny Payne
FUNDRAISING CO-ORDINATOR
Health and wellbeing of both people and the planet are central to Jenny’s values. With over 19 years of experience as an oncology and musculoskeletal physiotherapist, she joins the Well Foundation team with a varied skill set and is motivated to help improve health outcomes and health equity and create meaningful impact across the Waitematā region.
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Jenny has had strong links to North Shore Hospital throughout her life. She was born here, had her first job as a Physiotherapist and gave birth to her two children here also. She circles back again, giving rise to new beginnings once more, enthusiastically coming on board as the Fundraising Executive Assistant.
Our Board
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David Downs
CHAIR
David is a patient of our hospital having fought a high profile battle against an aggressive lymphoma cancer in 2017/2018. Now in complete remission, he has written extensively about his cancer and experience with the hospital system.
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David is the CEO for New Zealand Story Group and has over 25 years experience in business from both public and private sectors. He has also developed and worked with a number of social enterprises and is active in his support of young entrepreneurs and development of the tech sector.
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Craig Donaldson
DEPUTY CHAIR
Craig has 25 years’ experience in financial markets. He has returned to New Zealand after working with some of the biggest finance brands. Craig has relationships with many of the world’s largest global financial institutions ranging from hedge funds, money managers, banks and central banks.
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He has held managing director positions with Deutsche Bank, Merrill Lynch and Royal Bank of Scotland. Now a Coastville resident, he sits on the Global Board of KEA NZ and is an Executive in Residence at the University of Auckland Business School.
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Liz Blackwell
TRUSTEE
Liz grew up in Matamata, with a strong passion for children and helping them reach their potential. Liz studied teaching at Waikato University before becoming a primary school teacher.
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After teaching she moved to Auckland with her husband Paul to set up the Pak n Save supermarket in Albany. Liz and Paul also founded the Champions Programme, which focuses on the four pillars of - Goal Setting, Nutrition, Active Lifestyles, and Values - as well as teaching the basic fundamentals of basketball to children aged 5-12 years. To date 30,000 New Zealand children have participated in this.
Liz's passion and commitment for helping her community continues to grow and extends to many worthy causes.
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Robyn Redford
TRUSTEE
Robyn is an enthusiastic supporter and grateful recipient personally and via her family of the North Shore public health system. Through her late husband‘s chronic ill health and her kidney donation to him, Robyn witnessed the great care and effort invested by the specialist health teams in prolonging quality of life. Her connection to the Well Foundation began by fundraising for the Healing Garden at Totara Haumaru.
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A coastal resident near Warkworth with Ernie the spoodle, Robyn started her career as a lawyer before finding her true niche as a corporate headhunter for over 36 years. Her work covered corporate, public sector, academia, agribusiness, technology and sport up to board level. She is keen to support the Foundation at board and operational levels to further its positive impact for staff, patients and their families.
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Dr Janak De Zoysa
TRUSTEE
Janak is a Nephrologist at the Waitemata Renal Service as well as being the Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Auckland and the Assistant Dean of the Waitemata Clinical Campus. He trained in Nephrology in Christchurch, New Zealand and the John Walls Renal Unit, Leicester, UK.
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He is Chair of the Aotearoa Adult Medicine Division Committee and has previously Chaired the specialist advisory committee in Nephrology, the New Zealand Adult Medicine Self-Assessment programme and NZ Clinical Exams Committee for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
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Lorna Subritzky
TRUSTEE
Lorna is the well-known and familiar host of CoastFM's Daytime Radio and has had over three decades of expertise in the broadcast and media industry. Having been a long-term resident of North Shore, Lorna has a strong connection to North Shore Hospital with two children born there, and two cancer diagnoses leading to treatments and surgeries that have given her a firsthand perspective on healthcare needs.
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Inspired by her experiences, Lorna is eager to give back through the Well Foundation, ensuring healthcare improvements for the North Shore community. She looks forward to contributing meaningfully to the Foundation's initiatives and helping the wonderful community thrive.
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Jason Delamore
TRUSTEE
Jason is a seasoned technology, marketing and customer experience executive and is the current CEO of Lotto NZ. He has previously held senior leadership roles at Auckland International Airport, led the NZ operations of Landis+Gyr and run Retail Operations for Contact Energy.
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He has held senior roles in marketing, operations and strategic partnerships for a number of major listed companies including Vector, IBM, Lucent and CSG Systems. Jason also supports local NZ technology companies on advisory boards.
When not at work Jason can be found working on his boutique tourism operation, Lavender Hill, in the Riverhead/Coatesville area. He's passionate about support our local hospitals to enable the very best care for everyone in our community.
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Lisa Li
TRUSTEE
Originally from Xi’an, China Lisa Li began her career at China Travel Service (CTS) after earning her BA from Shaanxi Normal University. She later relocated to New Zealand, where she completed a master’s degree in international business at the University of Auckland.
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In 2000, Lisa was headhunted to establish and manage CTS’s New Zealand branch. Under her leadership, the company has grown into a leading destination management firm, overcoming pandemic challenges while expanding its outbound tourism business across the Asia-Pacific region.
A dedicated community leader, Lisa has served as Secretary General of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in New Zealand (CCCNZ) for over a decade, spearheading significant charitable fundraising efforts. She was also a board member of ITOC (formerly the Tourism Expo Council), sits on the Advisory Board of Manukau Police, and has been Co-Chair of New Zealand Asian Leaders (NZAL) since 2022. Lisa is a grateful receipent of care at North Shore Hospital's maternity service where she had her daughter.
Our Patron
Our Ambassador
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Sir Bob Harvey is a fiercely proud West Aucklander. Known for his roll-up-your-sleeves attitude and relentless energy, Sir Bob has spent decades shaping the cultural, environmental and social fabric of our country — and West Auckland in particular.
Throughout his life, including six terms as Mayor of Waitākere City, Sir Bob championed bold ideas and made them happen. His achievements have been recognised with numerous honours, including a United Nations Peace Award (1997), a UN Lifetime Achievement Award for the Environment (2007), and a knighthood in 2013 for services to local government and the community.
He’s made a lasting mark on New Zealand’s screen industry — co-founding both ad agency MacHarman Ayer and production company Daisy Films, and tirelessly championed local filmmaking through his work with the NZ Film Commission and as Mayor.
Threaded through Sir Bob’s many roles is a clear theme: a deep commitment to the health and wellbeing of others. He helped establish the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, founded the Mental Health Foundation’s Framework Trust, developed the Smokefree brand and Rockquest, and played a leading role in creating the Starship Foundation. He was also one of the first — and loudest — voices calling for a hospital to serve the people of West Auckland. Forty years later, he proudly cut the ribbon at the opening of Waitākere Hospital.
From surf lifesaving (he won bronze at the 1972 World Champs) to shaping national health movements, Sir Bob has never stood still. Today he lives in West Auckland with his wife, Lady Barbara Harvey, a former midwife and is father to four equally creative kids and proud grandfather to 12 grandchildren.
As Patron of Well Foundation, Sir Bob brings his trademark energy, bold vision, and lifelong commitment to better health for West Auckland – helping the Well Foundation to drive the projects, rally community support, and spark the progress that advances healthcare in our hospitals.
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Tom is a former pro basketballer, playing 16 seasons in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) for the New Zealand Breakers winning four championships.
He was also part of the Tall Blacks (New Zealand Basketball Team) who claimed a bronze medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in Australia.
Tom grew up on the North Shore and still calls it home. He says it's a real honour to be part of the Well Foundation and help spread the word about the work it does to support healthcare at the local hospitals and in the community.
Tom has a long association with healthcare on the shore with his paternal Grandfather a long-serving GP on the shore and his first child being born at North Shore Hospital.
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Sir Robert Harvey, affectinately known as Sir Bob is possibly the most passionate West Aucklander you will ever meet. A former advertising executive and politician he is best known for his time as Major of Waitakere City, which he held for 18 years from 1992 to 2010. Sir Bob has been a West Auckland resident his whole life and is married to Lady Barbara, a midwife and the couple of five adult children. His connection with the charitable sector goes way back with him involved in the early setting up of the Starship Foundation and also the Westpac Rescue Helicopter service. He has dedicated his life and career to making West Auckland and New Zealand a great place to live and supporting the community. He is proud to be Well Foundation's first Patron and champion community and philanthropic support for our local hospital and health services for hte benefit of everyone.
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Tom, is a former international Basketball champion. He grew up on the North Shore and still calls it home, For Tom it's a real honour to be part of hte Well Foudnation and help spread the word about the work we do to support healthcare at the local hospitals and in the community. He has a long assocation with healthcare on the shore with his parental Grandfather a long-serving GP on the shore and his first child being born at North Shore Hospital.
Our impact is made possible through the generosity and support of these organisations.
Family of supporters
Did you know:
Our most dedicated supporters are grateful patients - and their loved ones - who wish to express gratitude for the incredible care received.
Did you know:
Our most dedicated supporters are grateful patients - and their loved ones who wish to express their gratitute for the incredible care they received.