 Many of you will be aware that Mairangi Medical Centre has had a challenging month.
As part of the plan to update our building the outer tin roof was due for a change. Unfortunately during this process the inner ceiling was disturbed, and due to the age of the building it was likely this material contained asbestos. For the safety of staff and patients we had to evacuate and close the building. The presence of asbestos was confirmed (though in levels that over such a short period are of no risk to anyone’s health) and therefore the building and its contents need to be cleaned and a new ceiling installed. The task of closing a medical practice and setting up operations elsewhere is enormous. We are extremely grateful to our neighbouring practices who came to our rescue. Miraculously within 48hs we were able to resume business, and although this was a bare bones service for the first few days, within about a week we were able to offer almost our usual number of appointments and most of our services. Mairangi Medical Centre has been operating in Mairangi Bay for about 50 years. We love being part of the community, serving families over generations, watching children grow up and adults grow older with us! The staff at the practice are also like a family. We enjoy working together and most of the time are like a well-oiled machine. Being ‘homeless’ and scattered around, removed from our environment and community and lacking in the ‘home comforts’ that help that machine to run smoothly has been immensely challenging. As you can imagine to achieve the goal of doctors and nurses seeing patients a whole lot of other stuff has to happen as well. Every staff member at Mairangi Medical Centre has been working extremely hard to ensure our patient safety as a priority, and with an as needed dose of patience and understanding also aiming to keep everyone happy and satisfied. We look forward to welcoming you back to see us as we resume normal services and continue to serve our community, in early April 2019. In the meantime a big thank you goes to the staff at Browns Bay Medical Centre and Northcare who have welcomed and accommodated us, thank you to our patients for your understanding and patience, and thank you to all the amazing team at MMC who have been working so hard in very challenging circumstances. And let’s not forget to count our blessings. To be grateful for and appreciate our jobs, families, and health. They may not always run smoothly or be perfect but we can always find something to be grateful for, we can learn to accept and manage what we can’t change, and be positive and work hard to change those things we can.  We are getting a new roof! Work starts in February and is expected to run for 3-4 weeks. There may be construction noise during your visit and we apologise for the inconvenience.
Please note that we will be closed between Christmas and New Year. The surgery closes at 1pm on Monday 24th December and reopens on Thursday 3rd January. Urgent medical care is provided by ShoreCare at its Northcross and Smales Farm locations, and advice is available at all times by phone. Our usual phone number is diverted to Homecare Medical after hours.
Now is the time to check that you have enough of your regular medication to last you over the holiday season! Remember that repeat prescriptions can be ordered online. We are pleased to announce that holders of Community Services cards (CSCs) will be charged a reduced fee for ordinary consultations from the 1st December 2018, in keeping with the new government initiative. Details about the CSC (including information about who is eligible) can be found on the Work and Income website
The 2018 flu vaccine is now available for adults and children 3 years and older. The vaccine for children aged under 3 is expected in mid April. This year the vaccine contains two A strains (including the H3N2 strain which caused much trouble for the northern hemisphere during their recent winter) and two B strains.
Full information about influenza vaccine (including who is eligible for free shots) can be found here You may have heard that shingles vaccine is now free for adults aged 65-80. The best protection against shingles is immunisation. The shingles vaccine (Zostavax) is free at age 65 years. Until 31 March 2020, anyone aged from 66 to 80 years is also eligible for a free shingles vaccine. Talk to your doctor if you are immunosuppressed or immune deficient as the shingles vaccine may not be suitable for you. Those aged 50 to 64 years who are at increased risk of shingles or are a household contact of an immune compromised individual may also benefit from the vaccination, however a cost will apply for this age group The influenza vaccine is delayed... the Ministry of Health has told us that the first supplies of vaccine will be available in "early April". As soon as we hear the exact date we will update the website. This year the vaccine includes 4 strains, in an effort to beat off the nasty flu which affected the people of the northern hemisphere over their winter.
The flooring in the nursing area is being renewed between 31/1/18 and 5/2/18. We will do our best to work around this but there will be interruption to the services our nurses provide during this period. Thank you for your patience, and our apologies for the inconvenience
It's time for a facelift at MMC! We have started work on some improvements to our building. Early in 2018 we will be getting on with painting and some building alteration work (including new toilets) which will cause some disruption for a short while. We have scheduled much of the work to be out of normal hours to minimise inconvenience to staff and patients. Thank you for your patience during this time!
Please note that we will be closed between Christmas and New Year. The surgery closes at 1pm on Friday 22nd December and reopens on Wednesday 3rd January. Urgent medical care is provided by ShoreCare at its Northcross and Smales Farm locations, and advice is available at all times by phone. Our usual phone number is diverted to Homecare Medical after hours.
Now is the time to check that you have enough of your regular medication to last you over the holiday season! Remember that repeat prescriptions can be ordered online. Dr Lewis King has retired after 40 years at the centre of life at MMC. Dr Spencer Craft has also recently left and will be concentrating on his work at ShoreCare - we thank Spencer for his hard working contribution to MMC over the last year or two. With some younger doctors joining our team we are confident that have a great team of doctors and nurses to provide high quality care into the future!
Lots of our patients are now using the online appointment booking system for doctors’ appointments. We have a link on our website - it’s easy to register for the service, so long as you have a cellphone, which is required for the registration process. Please remember that online appointments are only for standard doctor’s appointments and not for special purposes such as drivers’ licence examinations, surgical procedures, etc. It is also easy to request repeat prescriptions online using the same ConnectMed logon. Medicolegal and safety requirements mean that you will still need to come in for a checkup at intervals which depend on the nature of the medication you are taking, and your overall state of health.
We are pleased to announce that test results are now available online. Because of the privacy considerations, it’s necessary to register for a higher level of security with our staff at reception. This needs to be done in person - unless you are personally known to the reception staff it will be necessary to bring some form of identification. This verification process is for your own protection, since we want to be absolutely sure that our patients’ health information is only being accessed by those who are authorised to do so. Once you have completed the verification process, your test results will be available on the ConnectMed website as soon as they have been viewed and filed by your doctor. We have also recently introduced “Easy-Claim” for Southern Cross members so that our staff can directly bill Southern Cross for your reimbursement, saving you the trouble of claiming. Check out the latest newsletter for some announcements about our doctors, including the impending retirement of Lewis King.
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