Dr Lance O'Sullivan | Founder & CEO
2014 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year
2013 Sir Peter Blake Emerging Leader Award
2013 Public Health Association Health Champion Award
2013 Māori of the Year Award
Dr Lance O'Sullivan is an accomplished author, national and international speaker, role model and disruptive leader and innovator. From a young boy labeled by society as a trouble maker, Lance developed into a passionate advocate for Māori health. He is a pioneer for equal health care in his community and a champion for creating a fairer New Zealand.
In June 2012, Lance made the headlines when he left his former employer after a difference in patient philosophy - he believed in treating patients regardless of whether or not they could afford treatment. He left disillusioned with a system that failed to deliver the care needed for his patients and vowed to change the system for the better.
Now ensconced in the Far North of New Zealand, Lance has set about making this happen. Harnessing the skills he acquired from his cultural heritage and medical training, he and wife Tracy established Navilluso Medical, a health care company committed to developing innovative ways to ensure appropriate and quality health care reached the right people in the right place at the right time.
Lance and Tracy have seven children - 5 boys and 2 girls. They live and work in Kaitaia, a remote and challenged area of rural New Zealand. Lance truly believes that he has led a charmed life and even now reflects on this...
"I used to feel that I should pinch myself to see if how life had played out for me was real or a dream"