Dr Karen Poutasi is currently Director-General of Health and Chief Executive of the Ministry of Health. She has worked for more than 20 years in health care management, holding positions in Dunedin, Auckland and Wellington. She was the foundation General Manager of the Wellington Area Health Board and oversaw its transition into three Crown health enterprises in 1993.
Dr Poutasi is a medical graduate of Otago University. Her area of specialisation is public health medicine, and, in addition, she has both Otago and Harvard management qualifications. She has overseen several major change projects during her management career.