Caroline McElnay

Caroline McElnay
QSO
McElnay in 2020
Chief Health Officer of Victoria[1]
Incumbent
Assumed office
c. August 2025
PremierJacinta Allan
Preceded byBrett Sutton
Director of Public Health
In office
2016–2022
Personal details
Born
Bushmills, Northern Ireland
Alma mater
OccupationPublic health official

Caroline Ann McElnay QSO (/ˈmæk.ɪlˌneɪ/) is a medical officer in New Zealand.[2] She was the director of public health for the New Zealand Ministry of Health from 2016 to 2022.

Biography

McElnay, one of seven children, grew up on a farm in Bushmills, Northern Ireland.[3] She studied medicine at Queen's University Belfast and then public health at the University of Manchester.[4] During her studies in Manchester she completed a one-year exchange in New Zealand, including six months in Napier.[5]

She was appointed director of population health for Hawke's Bay District Health Board. She advocated for health equity in the region and in 2014 she published a major report on the subject.[5] While at the board she was involved in the response to Havelock North's gastro outbreak, the first case of the SARS virus in New Zealand and a listeria outbreak.[6]

McElnay was appointed to the role of director of public health at the Ministry of Health in 2016.[6] She came to international attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Appearing in live-broadcast television press conferences, she was described as second-in-command to director-general Ashley Bloomfield and one of the most powerful women in the country.[7][8] She chaired the Pandemic Influenza Technical Advisory Group, which advised the ministry on matters concerning the control of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand.[6]

McElnay's resignation as director of public health was announced to Ministry of Health staff in February 2022. Her last day in the role was 7 April.[9] She was later appointed immunisation clinical lead at Health New Zealand and a member of the Ministry of Health's public health advisory committee.[10] In May 2025 she was announced as chief health officer for the Victoria State Government and took up that role in August.[11] She was reappointed to the New Zealand public health advisory committee and appointed as its chair in November 2025.[12]

Honours and awards

McElnay (left), after her investiture as a Companion of the Queen's Service Order by the governor-general, Dame Cindy Kiro, at Government House, Wellington, on 25 May 2023

In the 2023 New Year Honours, McElnay was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order, for services to public health.[13]

Personal life

McElnay later moved with her husband to Napier in 1995.[3] She has three children.[4]

Publications

  • McElnay, C., & University of Manchester. (1991). The epidemiology of hip fractures in the elderly and the efficacy of vitamin D supplementation as a preventive strategy. Manchester: University of Manchester.[14]
  • McElnay, C., & Hawke's Bay District Health Board. (2014). Health inequity in Hawke's Bay.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "New Chief Health officer appointed". Victoria Government. Victoria state government. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  2. ↑ "Confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 61, bringing total to 708". TVNZ. 1 April 2020. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  3. 1 2 Witton, Bridie (25 September 2021). "Caroline McElnay - piloting the pandemic response". Stuff. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Meet the Irish woman near the top of New Zealand's Covid-19 response". The Irish Times. 9 April 2020. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  5. 1 2 "McElnay: Building the fence at the top of the cliff". Stuff. 2 December 2016. Archived from the original on 24 September 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 Morton, Jamie (6 March 2020). "Coronavirus: Meet the experts advising the NZ Government on Covid-19". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  7. ↑ Witton, Bridie (25 September 2021). "Caroline McElnay - piloting the pandemic response". Stuff. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
  8. ↑ Milotte, Mike (9 April 2020). "Meet the Irish woman near the top of New Zealand's Covid-19 response". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
  9. ↑ Cheng, Derek (6 April 2022). "Public health exodus: Chiefs Caroline McElnay, Niki Stefanogiannis join Ashley Bloomfield in departing from Ministry of Health". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  10. ↑ "Public Health Advisory Committee members". Ministry of Health NZ. 13 March 2025. Archived from the original on 15 March 2025. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  11. ↑ "Victorian government appoints Caroline McElnay as chief health officer". Radio New Zealand. 29 May 2025. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
  12. ↑ "Appointments to the Public Health Advisory Committee". The Beehive. 28 November 2025. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  13. ↑ "New Year honours list 2023". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2022.
  14. ↑ McElnay, Caroline; University of Manchester; Medical School (1991). The epidemiology of hip fractures in the elderly and the efficacy of vitamin D supplementation as a preventive strategy. Manchester: University of Manchester. OCLC 642940895.
  15. ↑ McElnay, Caroline; Hawke's Bay District Health Board (2014). Health inequity in Hawke's Bay. Hawke's Bay District Health Board. ISBN 978-0-473-31294-7. OCLC 911035887. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
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