Doctor Sue Bagshaw has been made a dame companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to youth health.
Photo: RNZ
Dame Sue has worked in the youth health sector for three decades and is currently a senior lecturer in paediatrics at the University of Otago in Christchurch.
In 1995 she established the 198 Youth Health Centre, a one stop shop, where she worked as a primary care youth health specialist until its closure in 2010.
Following the Christchurch earthquakes, Dame Sue worked to establish the city's first youth hub and, most recently, she has set about bringing together a collaboration of health, social services and transitional housing for the city's youth.
Dame Sue said her work is its own reward.
"I just love it when I meet up with young people who've been to our service who come up to me and say 'It was so good, I'm doing so well now.'
"You know, that's the best bit. They've actually grown through all their difficulties, and they've become their own person and contributing in their own right. That's fantastic; that makes it all worth it."
Sue Bagshaw, and her husband, Phil, have been working to improve the mental and physical health of Canterbury people for many decades. Photo: RNZ
