Riana Manuel

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Riana Manuel (born 1972/1973) is a New Zealand nurse and health leader. She was the chief executive of the Māori Health Authority, which started in July 2022 and was disestablished in 2024. Manuel is of Ngāti Pukenga, Ngāti Maru and Ngāti Kahungunu descent and grew up in Manaia, Coromandel, the daughter of a nurse and an ambulance driver; her brother is a doctor. Her mother opened a rest home and a small hospital in Coromandel. As a teenager she attended a Māori boarding school where only the Māori language was spoken. Manuel is a registered nurse who has focused her career on community and Māori health. She was nurse director at Waikato District Health Board and chief executive officer of Hauraki Primary Health Organisation and Te Korowai Hauora o Hauraki, a rural iwi-based health provider. Te Korowai cared for many non-Māori too, and its approach improved outcomes for all patients. In December 2021 she became chief executive of the interim Māori Health Authority, aiming to ensure health services fit the needs of both rural and urban communities, rather than using a one-size-fits-all approach. The Authority was disestablished by the government in 2024.