CEO - Dr Rod Watts
Dr Rod Watts was appointed Chief Executive of Presbyterian Support Northern in July 2006, and joined the organisation at the end of August 2006. He has a long history in health and disability services in Australia and New Zealand and prior to joining PSN was National Manager of Planning and Development in the New Zealand Ministry of Health’s Disability Services Directorate. Originally from Melbourne, Rod has a variety of research, clinical and management experience gained in a range of health and disability services including working in palliative care, mental health, general hospital social work, oncology, rehabilitation and trauma management. Dr Watts immigrated to New Zealand in 1996 to set up and then manage a new adult rehabilitation service for Auckland Healthcare (now Auckland District Health Board). He held this role for more than four years, before moving to the Ministry of Health where he spent five years. Rod's qualifications include a Masters of Social Work, based on studying distress among people with cancer, and a PhD in the field of Psychiatry, based on research focused on victims of major bus crashes.
News & Events
September 2010
Changing for the better
Ten-year-old Cody found it hard to adjust when his family moved from Taranaki to Taupo. His work suffered and his behaviour became more and more challenging for his parents and teachers. Fortunately, Cody’s new school has a Family Works social worker who was alerted to Cody’s problems...read more here
May 2010
Connecting the Generations
Long boring afternoons have become a bit brighter for 95-year old Joan Sloman. Joan is part of a new initiative by Presbyterian Support Northern which aims to connect older people with a younger generation...read more here
