In a historic moment for iwi, three Māori health providers and a telehealth service provider have signed an official partnership at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.

Thursday’s signing was a new step towards uplifting whānau in deprived communities and providing equitable health outcomes.

The joint venture called Taki-o-Autahi is a cooperation between Māori health providers Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi in Kaikohe, Te Taiwhenua o Heretaunga in Hastings and Te Arawa Lakes Trust in Waiariki/Rotorua as well as Whakarongorau Aotearoa NZ Telehealth Services.

It was born out of the Covid 19 pandemic.

With the know-how and equipment from Whakarongorau Telehealth Services, the three Māori health providers brought Māori into employment and trained them to deliver health advice to whānau who wanted to learn more about the Covid-19 vaccine.

Taki-o-Autahi has made a noticeable impact on people in the Far North creating 77 new jobs in Kaikohe.

Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi chief executive officer Tia Ashby says her organisation’s decision to formalise the partnership came down to the success from this ‘by Māori for Māori’ approach.

All four organisations were fully committed to addressing equity issues through the provision of equitable telehealth services.

“Our partnership can be described through the whakataukī ‘He ao ka tui, he ao ka whatu, ka renarena – a world is weaved, a world is sowed, and both are fastened as one’.”

She said while all health providers would retain their autonomy, under Taki-o-Autahi the organisations could leverage off each other’s strengths.

Taki-o-Autahi is seen as a double-win for Māori in offering job opportunities with mahi that is based on Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles as well as improving Māori health outcomes.

Ashby said their telehealth services provided rapid access of correct health information in both te Reo and English and ensured “the protection of our taonga”.

The telehealth service has since expanded from informing whānau about the Covid-19 vaccine to measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), influenza and all child immunisation, and Ashby said it will eventually target all Māori health issues.

Kapuatere Poa, 22, is one of the kaimahi (workers) at the Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi call centre and says the initiative has helped her overcome her troubled past.

“I wasn’t always on the right road,” Poa said.

Alcohol and drug addiction as well as youth offences kept the young Northlander “from living her best life”.

Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi provided her with a job opportunity and after a three-month trial period where Poa had to prove that she could hold a position, the young woman got full-time employment.

Poa is also studying to become a nurse.

“I never imagined myself to be anywhere near to where I’m at now.”

Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi has 115 kaimahi in total and is now one of the biggest employers in Kaikohe, with 90 per cent of its recruits in employment for the first time.

During its evaluation period the initiative saw $6.2 million injected into the Far North region.

For the 12 months ending July this year, the connection with Māori through dedicated service lines saw kaimahi Māori from the four organisations answer 46,000 contacts and make 274,000 outbound calls to tangata whaiora who had questions or vaccine hesitancy. The calls resulted in vaccine bookings 53 per cent of the time.