Dr George Ngaei has been involved in improving Māori and Pacific health as a practicing general surgeon (Endoscopic and Gastrointestinal) in Invercargill, as well as providing his expertise to work and consult on a wide range of medical issues for those living in the Cook Islands.

 He has been Chair of the South Island Pacific Providers Collective since 2014 and is a committee member of the Auckland-based Cook Islands Health Network Association. 

In 2002 he established a Pacific Island Specialist Nursing Service in collaboration with the Pacific Island Advisory and Cultural Trust (PIACT) and has been Chairman of PIACT since 2007. 

He was a representative for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) on the Southland Medical Foundation from the 1990s until 2018. Mr Ngaei was previously elected to the New Zealand Committee of the Royal Australian College of S and is a member of the Board of the Auckland-based Cook Islands Development Agency New Zealand.

Congratulations Dr Ngaei for being made a Companion of the NZ Order of Merit for your services to health and the Pacific community.