How it all began…
History
Blockhouse Bay Medical Centre was established in the 1950s and grew from its original position in 3A Heaphy St to, at its peak in the late 80s, to occupy both Heaphy St and Blockhouse Bay Rd, with satellite clinics at Lynfield and Rosebank Rd. With retirements things have been now rationalised back from what was then an A+E style centre to a true General Practice occupying the 503 Blockhouse Bay address with the other clinics having been sold off.
The Primary Health Strategies introduced early in the first term of the Helen Clark government tenure is based on the philosophy of keeping the community well and minimising the need for secondary health services (hospitals). Thus, patients are now encouraged to enrol with ONE GP countrywide to ensure continuity of care. This has seen the development of Primary Healthcare Organisations( PHOs) which are designed to keep our community well via their doctors, nurses and clinical team.
Our clinic now…
Present Day
Our Doctors are Dr Brian Thomson, Dr Shanthi Selvakumar, Dr Phil Ruge, Dr Thilanka Weerasooriya and Dr Kierrtana Selvakumar, and we have a great team of Nurses and support staff.
The premises have recently had internal renovations to create privacy and a more patient-friendly atmosphere, removing the barriers of the older style practice with all medical records computerised (since the late 80s for some things).
There is an adjacent Labtests laboratory with internal access.
The local community has evolved as the district has aged over the past 55-60 years, with patients who were new to the district now moving away from the family home, their offspring often still living nearby, and their offspring now moving out and thinking about the next generation! Immigration has also seen a much greater ethnic mix in our clinic than 50 years ago.
Your PHO gets government money from the district health board which is designed to improve access to primary healthcare for those patients ENROLLED. PHOs must demonstrate high clinical standards in the delivery of healthcare to their patient populations.
Our PHO is Procare. This provides cheaper visits to those over 65, under 25, and those eligible for the various healthcare schemes provided by Procare. You will be let known about these as you need them / qualify for these.
Healthcare policies will change again as government policy changes. We have evolved with such changes in the past and will endeavor to change with any new policy changes as they occur in the future.