Riana Manuel

Riana Manuel (born 1972/1973) is a New Zealand nurse, healthcare manager and chief executive of the Māori Health Authority which came into being in July 2022 and was disestablished in 2024.

Manuel is of Ngāti Pukenga, Ngāti Maru and Ngāti Kahungunu descent. Her mother set up a rest home and small hospital in Coromandel. As a teenager she went to a Māori boarding school where only the Māori language was spoken (known as full immersion). While Te Korowai services have a Māori focus only about half of its patients were Māori, and its approach achieved better outcomes for all patients. Her aim was to ensure that people in both rural and urban areas have services appropriate to their communities, rather than applying a universal approach to healthcare.