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Mairangi Medical Centre has a long history of providing service to the East Coast Bays community. The practice was first started by Dr Mark Hepburn and Dr Andrew Blair in the 1940s - although it was not then called Mairangi Medical Centre. Dr Lewis King joined the practice in the 1970s, and soon after that, in 1975, Dr Graeme Stone also joined the practice - and the beginnings of Mairangi Medical Centre as it is today, were forged. The practice was at that stage operating out of cramped rooms in the Mairangi Bay mall area, but it soon became apparent, that with a growing practice, new premises were going to be needed. In 1980, the shift was made to purpose-built rooms in Penzance Road, and the practice was able to continue to expand. The practice now has eight regular doctors - Dr Francesco Lentini, Dr Lewis King, Dr Graeme Stone, Dr Kim Bannister, Dr Jane Pepper, Dr Jo Blakey, Dr Glenda Lowe and Dr Anna Bedbrook. In addition, the practice trains doctors who are specialising in general practice ("GP registrar"). |
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As Mairangi Medical Centre has such a long association with the community, it has developed into a true "family-oriented" medical centre - serving grandparents, parents, children and grandchildren of the same family. In fact, we consider ourselves a family. Mairangi Medical Centre has seen a few governments come and go - and with them, their various ideas for delivering health care to the community. Throughout these changes, the practice has endeavoured to provide the best possible health care to the Bays community. The most recent major government change was the development of the "Primary Health Care Strategy" in 2001 by Health Minister Annette King. The purpose of this strategy was to try and improve the health of all New Zealanders through a greater emphasis on population health, health promotion, and preventative care at the community level (the primary health level) - thus preventing seriously ill people ending up at hospital (the secondary care level). In order to implement this strategy, the idea of Primary Health Organisations (PHOs) was developed. A PHO is a group of doctors, nurses and other community health professionals working together to improve the health of the community to which they belong. PHOs receive funding from the government via their local District Health Boards (DHBs) which allows them to provide better access to health care and services for their enrolled patient population, over and above that of standard GP care. In order to provide these services, PHO practices must conform to high clinical standards in the delivery of health care to their patient populations Mairangi Medical Centre has been part of the ProCare Network North PHO since the 1 January 2004. This means the practice can offer cheaper health care to all enrolled patients. As governments come and go, Mairangi Medical Centre has endeavoured to keep pace with the latest strategies in order to provide the best health care possible to its patient population. We have a long-term commitment to the community we serve, and we will no doubt still be here after the next major changes to the health systems have occurred. We are a "Medical Home" (to use the latest jargon). This means that we provide primary health care which is accessible, continuous, and co-ordinated. There's no place like home! |
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