Dr
Murray grew up in New Zealand. As a young man he moved with his family to
America and completed an undergraduate arts degree there, before returning to
study medicine at the University of Otago.
He was employed as a house officer and senior house officer at Dunedin
Public Hospital in the mid-1980s. He then added a masters of occupational
medicine from Harvard University to his CV, specialising in health business
administration.
Returning
to New Zealand, Dr Murray worked as a medical officer with the New Zealand
military, as well as completing United Nations assignments in Bosnia and post-war Iraq. These roles involved policy development, planning and implementation
of health services and occupational health policies. In 1995, Dr Murray was awarded an MBE in the
Queens Birthday Honours List for services to health in the NZ Defence Force.
Dr
Murray then moved into a health management career, initially as General Manager
Planning and Development with Auckland DHB and in 2001 as the lead for the
major redevelopment of the Board’s health services and facilities. He also took
on the role of interim CEO at Southland District Health Board.
In
2007 Dr Murray was appointed as President and CEO of Fraser Health Authority in
Canada, an organisation of 22,000 staff members, 12 acute hospitals, outpatient
centres, residential care facilities, and mental health services, serving a
population of more than 1.6 million people.
Dr
Murray returned to New Zealand in July 2014 to take up the position of Chief
Executive for Waikato DHB.