Otaki TodayA new medical centre is about to open in Main Street after Te Puna Ōranga o Ōtaki recruited three new GPs for the town.
The doctors already live in the district and at least another three are available to support increasing demand. The new service at 51 Main Street will open on November 4. When enrolments opened last month, 150 people requested enrolments in the first 24 hours.
The service, which will be based around the kaupapa and tikanga (values) of Te Puna Oranga, will be available to anyone.
Te Puna Oranga o Ōtaki general manager Heniti Buick, left, and chair Monica Fraser outside the building at 51 Main Street where Ōtaki’s new medical centre will operate.
Photo Ōtaki Today
“We are open to the community,” says Te Puna Oranga general manager Heniti Buick. “We have an obligation to improve health outcomes for Māori, because the statistics show they’re worse off than others, but we also recognise that the demographics of Ōtaki are diverse, so we’re catering for everyone.”
She says Te Puna Oranga’s values were what attracted the GPs to what will be known as Oranga Ōtaki.
“Our GPs saw the kaupapa and thought, ‘I want to be a part of that’ – to join a system that embraces a wellness model rather than just an illness model. It shows that tikanga Māori and Western medicine can work side by side, with whānau coming out stronger and better off.”
While Heniti was not yet able to name the new GPs, she says two of them are Māori, the other originally from overseas but a reo speaker. They all live in the Kāpiti district so there was no need to recruit internationally.
“I never thought setting up a tikanga-based GP service like this was possible. I always thought we would have to join an existing service, but we haven’t had to.”
The service is funded through an agreement with Mid-Central PHO Think Hauora. Te Puna Oranga o Ōtaki trust chair Monica Fraser says the PHO has been “very supportive” based on the kaupapa, the demographic of Ōtaki and the way in which Te Puna Oranga operates.
“It wasn’t the roadblock we were expecting. Instead, together we are making healthcare relevant and accessible while upholding the values that matter most to our people,” she says.
The new service will be targeting the many in Ōtaki who have no GP for whatever reason. Some local people have not been able to enrol locally as Ōtaki Medical Centre closed its books some time ago.
It’s estimated 4000 people in Ōtaki travel to a GP service in the Wellington region or are not enrolled with a GP at all. Opening the doors at 51 Main Street for GP appointments will help increase access for Ōtaki residents to essential healthcare needs.
“That’s who we’re targeting. We’re not going to turn anyone away, including people who are living with locals or getting an education here.”
Apart from the Main Street clinic, a mobile bus will also be available to visit marae, kura and other places. Heniti says it might be that kaumātua are having a get-together, so the bus could provide vaccinations or other special services while they’re all in one place, taking the services to the people.
• To enrol, email mauriora@tepunaoranga-otaki.nz
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