About Heart Place Hospital
Heart Place Hospital was founded in 2017 by Jacqui O’Connor, a visionary Whole Health Practitioner, reimagined nurse, and lifelong advocate for care that truly heals. After 30 years on the frontline of healthcare, Jacqui saw the cracks deepening in our health systems, especially for those giving the most: our carers, our helpers, our vital citizens. When she couldn’t find the support she needed, she created it.
What began as a bold act of personal reclamation is now a registered charity (CC61280) serving communities across Aotearoa New Zealand.
At Heart Place Hospital, we believe that the qualities often undervalued in medicine, empathy, intuition, emotion, softness are not liabilities but lifelines. These feminine energies are what a true healer must embody. They are what every person needs to balance within themselves in order to become a force for healing, within their professions, families, and communities.
We’re on a mission to feminise the broken, patriarchal healthcare system, not by excluding the masculine, but by rebalancing it. We embrace wraparound, community-led care that nourishes the mind, body, and soul, and holds space for every stage of life.
This is Heart Place Hospital
💛 Where care wraps around every life transition.
Caring for our carers. Strengthening communities from the frontline up and out.
Our Impact
✔️ Hosting retreats, healing circles & community events
✔️ Holding space for grief, birth, death & recovery
✔️ Training new guides & community stewards
✔️ Weaving Te Ao Māori, forgotten wisdom, science & collective care
✔️ Supporting carers to stay in the roles they love, reducing burnout and turnover
✔️ Helping communities thrive through sustainable, heart-led care models
Our Mission
Heart Place Hospital is reimagining care from the inside out, supporting frontline health and education providers and strengthening family systems with tailored solutions, wraparound care, and unwavering advocacy.
We champion a sustainable, heart-led system where carers are valued, families and communities thrive, and every citizen is supported to heal and flourish.
Our Vision: A Future Full of Heart
Heart Place Hospital provides the vital care and support frontline carers need to stay passionate, energised, and thriving.
We envision a future where these carers are respected and nurtured, creating a ripple effect of compassion that builds a stronger, heart-centred nation.
Heart Place Hospital: Living and Breathing Our Values
At Heart Place Hospital, our values are at the heart of everything we do:
Equity: We meet the unique needs of each individual, ensuring everyone achieves the same outcome—a heartful, joyful, and liberated life.
Connection: We connect individuals with the right solutions at the right time, tailored precisely to their needs.
Co-creativity: We collaborate and create bespoke solutions, perfectly designed to meet individual needs.
LOVE: We provide a foundation of safety and security, making love the best medicine.
Trailblazing: We are pioneers, leading the charge to transform chaos into a harmonious future.
Join us on this journey, where every heartbeat matters and every life thrives!
Meet Heart Place Hospital Ambassador
Dame Susan Devoy DNZM CBE - Ambassador
Dame Susan Devoy, is a celebrated New Zealand former squash player and distinguished public servant. Her career in squash was marked by extraordinary achievements, particularly in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She clinched the World Open title four times, establishing herself as a dominant force in the sport.
Beyond her athletic accomplishments, Dame Susan has made significant contributions to public service. She served as New Zealand's Race Relations Commissioner from 2013 to 2018, advocating for racial equality and social justice. Her leadership and commitment to these values have left a lasting impact on the nation.
Dame Susan's commitment to health and education extends beyond her personal achievements. She has several family members who work and receive support in these fields, further inspiring her dedication to these vital areas. As an ambassador for Heart Place Hospital, she leverages her public profile and extensive experience to support and inspire the community, advocating for better health outcomes and our society to thrive many heart places at a time.
Meet Our Board
Jacqui O'Connor RN - CEO/Founder
Jacqui is a New Zealand Registered Nurse, Pioneering Philanthropist with qualifications in health psychology and Whole Health Medicine from Whole Health Medicine Institute with Lissa Rankin MD, with 28 years of experience supporting women and families and in teen management. Jacqui champions Carers, including our future Carers, to understand their body and mind, to not be ashamed of themselves, to be comfortable with the changes they are going through, and to trust their bodies and minds. These vital individuals are the people who deal with our most vulnerable citizens – our children, the sick, and the elderly.
Sarah Digby RN – Secretary
Sarah Digby is the author of Tall Poppies Rising: "The Truth from Tumultuous to Transformational" and the founder of Frank in Essence – The release that frees our true voice. After 21 years in traditional nursing, she wrapped up her career in 2021 and hasn’t looked back—grateful for where it led her and excited to walk a more creative, integrative path.
As Secretary of Heart Place Hospital, Sarah brings her steady presence, heart, and wisdom to the table. Her poetry is raw, real, and deeply moving—often born from life’s biggest turning points.
Whether she’s writing, supporting others, or holding space, Sarah blends her clinical background, intuitive bodywork, and love of language to bring healing in many forms. Her journey is full of courage, creativity, and care—just like her role here at Heart Place Hospital.
Ajay Kumaar BA (Hons) – Treasurer
Ajay Kumaar is a finance professional and ACCA Affiliate with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting & Finance from Middlesex University. With over five years of experience across financial reporting, credit control, payroll, and business support, he brings accuracy, clarity, and a team-first attitude to every role.
Ajay has also been an active member of the Mustang Car Club for over four years, where he’s contributed to numerous community events and charity drives. His attention to detail, proactive mindset, and heart for service make him a valuable asset in both professional and volunteer spaces.
Passionate about purpose-led work, Ajay is proud to support Heart Place Hospital's mission through his role as Treasurer. Outside of work, he enjoys bush walks with his wife Varida and Wellington’s vibrant café culture.
Dr Kamāia Pere - Trustee
Kamāia pioneered Our Collective and Float whilst working as a doctor at Northland DHB. She understands the downfalls of the health system and uses innovative approaches to help her clients get to the core of conditions underpinned by stress and trauma. Her vision aligns with the fundamental purpose of Heart Place Hospital - to create a space for healers to heal and come back in their light. She offers a scientific combined with indigenous approach to healing and thriving.
Rob Mokaraka - Trustee
After a public mental and spiritual breakdown in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2009, it took Rob 7 years to create an educational and healing experience that addresses mental well-being, suicide prevention, and postvention in a dynamic presentation called Shot Bro - Confessions Of A Depressed Bullet. An experience that explores his real-life fight with depression, a bullet, unresolved trauma, and the pathways that illuminate aroha/compassion and hope. Rob is invited to communities and organisations around Australasia to help create safe spaces to address mental well-being and suicide prevention with Aroha & compassion by sharing his story with thriving mechanisms so others don't feel alone and realise they deserve as much help and Aroha as they need, as often as they need.
Mike Lightfoot - Trustee
Mike is an experienced and award-winning CEO with an extensive international background. He has led companies such as Milmeq Ltd, a global exporter of protein processing equipment, and Buckley Systems Ltd, a high-tech manufacturing business in the nuclear physics field. Mike moved into the supply chain market and was CEO for Nexus Logistics, Conlinxx Ltd, running both companies and the inland ports in South Auckland and Waikato. He joined Ports of Auckland as COO to restructure operations after two fatalities and worked to rebuild the mana within the team.
As CEO of Milmeq, Mike successfully led the company's expansion and was recognised by winning the Supreme Award at the 2015 Westpac Business Excellence Awards Auckland and the 2015 New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Excellence in Innovation award. He also led Buckley Systems Ltd to win the American Chamber of Commerce Exporter of the Year award and the overall Supreme Business award.
Mike has sat on several boards over the years and is currently a director on the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and Northland Inc boards.
Donations
Do you want to align with a brand that cares?
Take action today and join us in supporting our Carers at Heart Place Hospital. Your sponsorship will enable us to continue providing vital services to those who need it. Let's make a real difference together.
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