ABERLEIGH - Key Persons
Aimee completed her nursing degree in 2016 in the Philippines, accruing emergency department and medical ward experience before immigrating to New Zealand.
Aimee has been with us for a while in various nursing roles and her dedication to caring for people is clear in her work. As Clinical Manager she is committed to leading our team to provide quality care in a compassionate environment.
Andrew was with our organisation for many years in different roles before being appointed as a Director in 2017. He started out with Dementia Care NZ in 2009 with a position as Operations Manager of Aberleigh Rest Home in Blenheim, which soon extended to managing Tasman Rest Home in Nelson. Moving to the organisational management team, his involvement extended further as his role of Project Manager evolved, working closely with Jim on building projects in Nelson, Blenheim and Kapiti.
Job Titles:
- Regional Clinical Manager
Arrah comes to us with more than seven years' experience as Clinical Manager for Aged Care facilities providing rest home, hospital and dementia levels of care, with proven ability to support both residents and staff. Her most recent role has been as Clinical Manager of a 60-bed rest home providing hospital and rest home level care.
Arrah has expertise in Infection Control, Health and Safety, Quality Improvement, facilitating staff education, interRAI assessments and all aspects of clinical team leadership. Her focus is on creating and maintaining warm, caring and effective relationships with residents, their families and the staff team to provide truly excellent holistic care.
Above all, Arrah's passion for older persons' care, and especially dementia, shine through the work she has chosen to do.
Job Titles:
- Quality & Systems Manager
Chris's role is central to establishing and maintaining consistent and compliant standards across our organisation, particularly in terms of policies, procedures and related documentation and processes.
Solution-focused and with a flair for finding innovative ways to achieve results, Chris works closely with our operations managers to keep each facility audit compliant. She regularly visits all our facilities to conduct compliancy audits, review their documentation and assess their performance. Her passion for health and safety focuses on accident prevention and incident analysis, with her eagle eye for detail ensuring we meet requirements around reporting timeframes.
Chris believes that our philosophy and values are something that sets us apart. They are an integral part of our quality system, a factor that keeps Chris motivated to achieve the very best possible outcomes for all our facilities.
Job Titles:
- Marketing and Public Relations
Donya's role focuses primarily on coaching facility managers in marketing and public relations and encouraging their involvement in their local community engagement. Donya is also a hands-on diversional therapist with 15 years' experience working with people who have dementia.
Donya comes from an arts and wellness background with training in theatre and directing, holistic counselling, post graduate studies in community arts management, and dance and movement therapy. Donya has also recently certified as a Havening practitioner. She has a strong interest in the therapeutic benefits of all arts mediums and incorporates this into her practice as a diversional therapist, employing humour and warmth, creativity and a passion for growing and cooking nourishing organic food.
Donya has represented Dementia Care NZ at numerous conferences and organisations including Alzheimers NZ conferences and the Change Champions Dementia Conference in Sydney Australia and Probus and Zonta clubs around New Zealand, educating people to understand the intricacies of dementia and gain valuable communication tools and strategies.
"Making a difference to someone's day, enticing a laugh or a smile, seeing a person continue to develop skills and gain pleasure and therapeutic benefit from creative activities, are but some of the reasons I love this vocation so much."
Evelyn is well known and loved by residents, families and staff alike, having worked for us for many years in a senior caregiving and Weekend Manager role. She has a very clear understanding of our Vision and Values and a passionate commitment to providing loving care to people with advanced dementia.
Evelyn's qualifications range across the fields of veterinary science, commerce, accounting, computing, cooking and of course caregiving, specifically dementia care. Evelyn has ably supported previous Operations Coordinators in their role, and has a sound knowledge and understanding of the administrative processes involved.
Fitz brings qualifications and experience in both healthcare and business administration to his role at Avonlea. A qualified Registered Nurse back in the Philippines, his practical experience included an internship in primary care and two years as a Pandemic Response Community Health Volunteer. His subsequent role as Operations Manager of a national distribution company encompassed management, marketing, health and safety, compliance, quality control and maintenance.
Fitz has a passion for leading and mentoring multi-disciplinary and multicultural teams, and a commitment to outstanding service and personal excellence. His goal in his new role is to build, maintain and support a harmonious and productive team. He is excited to bring his healthcare and management skills together in a role that will make a positive difference to residents, families and staff.
Jhanavi has several years of nursing experience in India before working at another of our rest homes in Nelson.
Jhanavi is someone who goes the extra mile to look after residents and has shown excellent leadership skills in her time at Tasman. It is great to have her leading the team at Aberleigh.
Jim is passionate about developing the staff team at Dementia Care NZ. He visits each home regularly to meet with the on-site management teams and to look for ways to further develop their skills. Seeing the personal development of the staff team brings Jim much enjoyment.
Jim has been running Dementia Care NZ for 20 years and takes special pleasure in providing opportunities for advancement and the fulfilment of personal potential, enabling members of our team to work their way up through the organisation to take up leadership roles.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Support and Quality Team Leader
Maira started her nursing career in New Zealand in 2008 at Admatha Dementia Care in Christchurch. She remained there for the next 10 years, gaining an invaluable perspective on the NZ healthcare system and a hands-on understanding of the aged care sector and the dementia journey.
In 2018 she stepped up into the role of Clinical Manager at Admatha, extending her clinical experience to a higher level while also developing her passion for leadership and staff development and mentoring.
Maira's career continued to progress with a move to her current role as DCNZ Clinical Support and Quality Leader in 2021. This newly-created leadership position focused on guiding and supporting our Clinical Management team organisationally in order to carry out their roles more effectively.
What inspires Maira most is the opportunity to positively influence the provision of the best possible level of care to the older population, specifically individuals and their families who are going through the dementia journey. Maira is also passionate about playing an active part in the journey of each Registered Nurse to find true fulfilment and reach their potential in older persons' care.
Maja Yu studied a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and a Bachelor of Commerce in Management in the Philippines before coming to work at Aberleigh as a caregiver in 2009, becoming Operations Coordinator in 2012.
The most appealing thing for Maja in her present position of Operations Manager is seeing our vision and values become part of the way each staff member relates to residents and family members. Maja believes that by working in this way we all have the residents' very best interests at heart and will achieve the best possible outcomes.
Having qualified as a Registered Nurse in the Philippines, Maria worked for 5 years as a Staff Nurse in a tertiary private hospital in the Philippines and a further 5 years as a Neurology and Neuro-surgery Nurse in one of the military hospitals in Saudi Arabia before emigrating to New Zealand in July 2012.
On arrival Maria joined Dementia Care NZ and worked at Tasman Rest Home in Nelson as a caregiver before transferring to Millvale House Levin in December 2012. In 2015 Maria was promoted to Home and Weekend Manager, and was appointed Operations Coordinator in August 2016.
Maria's role encompasses both administrative support and hands-on caregiving in a senior leadership capacity. Having been with Millvale House Levin for many years, Maria exemplifies our Vision and Values and has an in-depth knowledge of our residents and a close and supportive working relationship with our families and staff team.
She loves to render tender loving care to our residents and support each person as their dementia progresses.
Megan worked in a number of clinical, education, leadership, advisory and compliance roles in both the NZ public and private sectors before joining Dementia Care NZ as Clinical Advisor in 2013. Her transition to a Clinical Director position in 2015 focused on consolidation and development of nursing leadership, clinical governance and professional development. Megan returned to an advisory role in 2019 to provide oversight for Dementia Care NZ clinical leadership, risk, quality and governance activities.
In support of her current position, Megan continues to practice as an Expert Advisor to the Health and Disability Commissioner and is a Lead Certification Auditor for District Health Boards. Megan's interests include international health systems, and she has completed system reviews in both Japan and China in recent years. Megan is dedicated to the services Dementia Care NZ provides and the collaborative team of which she is part, providing loving homes for people in residential care.
Megan lives in Palmerston North with her husband John, and is the proud grandparent of one little girl.
Nicola's role is to monitor and support families through the financial residential care process from admission to discharge, assisting new families with understanding and navigating all aspects of subsidy application, WINZ and super payment/AP processes. As such, she works with our Accounts and Operations teams as she works to identify and resolve issues which could impact on timely payment.
Job Titles:
- Operations Manager
- Registered Nurse
Preet Lail has a combined role of Operations Manager and Registered Nurse Support. This allows her to take on the Operations Manager responsibilities while continuing to pursue her training to become a Registered Nurse in New Zealand.
Preet has been with us since 2013 and has become an integral part of the team at Leighton, including providing some great support to our previous Operations Manager Teresa. She has welcomed the added responsibilities and new challenge the Operations Manager role presents. Preet has great skills and experience to offer as a manager, as well as the trust, confidence and support of residents, families and staff.
Rona began her Registered Nursing career in the Philippines, where she worked in medical, surgical, gynaecological and paediatric fields, as well as a school nurse for students between 3 and 12 years old.
Moving to New Zealand, Rona worked as a caregiver in a retirement village, gaining valuable aged care and dementia knowledge while developing her NZ work experience and leadership skills. On completing her CAPS and gaining her NZ nursing registration, she worked as a casual RN in Auckland before transitioning to a RN position with Admatha in Christchurch.
Rona's sound clinical skills, calm and patient manner, and ability to handle pressure shine through in her interactions with residents, family members and colleagues. A people person above all else, she leads by example and is passionately committed to her personal and professional development in aged care nursing.
Sandeep worked as a Clinical Instructor and Registered Nurse in ICU in India before moving to New Zealand.
Since obtaining her NZ Nursing Registration in 2019, Sandeep has consolidated her Clinical and Quality experience in leadership roles within her chosen field of Aged Care.
She enjoys working collaboratively to provide the best possible care and improve quality of life.
Her forte lies in bringing together her leadership and interpersonal skills, person-centred focus and team approach to achieve optimal outcomes for staff, residents and families alike.
Job Titles:
- Education Coordinator and Mental Health Nurse
- Psychiatric Nurse
Simon Hamley trained as a Psychiatric Nurse in the UK in 1985 and worked in a number of mental health roles, including youth mental health, hospital-based nursing and a project aimed and preventing self-harm. His first support of someone living with dementia was as a volunteer in 1982, which led him to pursue a career in nursing. Simon has worked in aged care, both in the UK and in New Zealand, for the past 22 years, and during this time developed a passion and talent for teaching others.
Simon's main focus with Dementia Care New Zealand is as Education Co-ordinator for our staff team. He is a Registered Careerforce Assessor and supports staff to attain New Zealand qualifications in aged care. Simon travels to each facility and facilitates training sessions for the staff on a wide variety of subjects, though his favourite sessions are a series of three called the Best Friends Approach to Care. The sessions help to equip staff with an empathetic approach to supporting people living with dementia.
Troy has spent the last seven years in executive, operational and administrative positions at an international school in Saudi Arabia. His prior experience includes marketing, compliance and quality control, rostering, and maintenance and purchasing coordination.
Troy has a passion for leading and mentoring multi-disciplinary and multicultural teams, and a commitment to equity, and a unified, harmonious and productive workplace. He is excited to bring his administrative and practical skills together in a role that will make a positive difference to residents, families and staff.
Job Titles:
- Regional Clinical Manager
A dedicated professional with over 8 years of clinical and managerial experience in the health sector, Urmee's expertise is in aged care nursing, with the past four years in clinical management roles.
Urmee's approach is strongly people-focused, with a commitment to empowering and supporting our older population to continue to be in charge of living their lives in the way that makes them happy.
Urmee is at home working within a multi-disciplinary team setting to provide the highest quality of care at all times. She thrives on leading and developing successful teams, and implementing change in a dynamic and complex healthcare environment.
Her personal interests include reading, travelling, and exploring and getting to know different cultures and places.
Job Titles:
- Operations Management Leader
With a BA degree in English, Archaeology and Social Anthropology, Vicky's career has spanned opposite sides of the world and included roles in the film industry and performing arts, diamond grading and gemmology, PR and communications, and caring for people with spinal and traumatic brain injuries, before finding her ‘forever home' in dementia care.
Since joining Dementia Care NZ in 2010 Vicky's role has evolved to include the leadership, mentoring and support of our nine Operations Managers, Human Resources, organisational communications, and staff and family support.
Challenges energise and inspire Vicky, and life has taught her a passionate belief in the value of mistakes, accountability and forgiveness in learning and growing to become our best selves.