DOC STILL GOING STRONG
Wright, 90, to double ‘aid’ clients
He’s turned 90, but Dr James Wright is still doing his bit for seniors in the city
THE Gold Coast’s best friend, “merry medic’’ Dr James Wright, might have just celebrated his 90th birthday but he has vowed to keep working to double the number of struggling seniors he helps in the city.
The medical TV trailblazer’s Medi Aid Centre Foundation provides cheap, permanent accommodation in the heart of Surfers Paradise for 263 elderly people hit by health and housing woes.
Dr Wright said his drive to help the burgeoning ranks of ageing Gold Coasters in need helped him survive two taxing rounds of cancer treatment.
The Australian of the Year Awards’ 2017 NSW Senior Citizen of the Year spent the past 12 months regaining his strength and working with son David Knight to quietly add another 11 units to Medi Aid’s portfolio of 223 properties in 26 highrises in Surfers Paradise.
Dr Wright said he was delighted to have “made it this far” after surviving two bouts of cancer in his 80s.
“I was unlucky enough to develop yet another cancer (early in 2017), even though I had serious throat cancer in 2012,” he said. “Having lived an abstemious life for nearly a century, I felt a bit cheated.”
Dr Wright famously helped turn the local property market around in 2013 when he splashed out almost $6 million buying up 27 units in Surfers Paradise for Medi Aid as part of his life-long mission to help struggling seniors in need of housing.
While it is run on the Christian “goodwill’’ ethic, Medi Aid is not related to any political or religious creed and funds itself.
“We neither seek nor receive any direct government monies,” Dr Wright said.
Founded in 1971, the public benevolent institution has grown into a multimilliondollar enterprise, with succession planning to ensure its work on the Coast and in Sydney continues for generations to come.
“Medi Aid now houses 263 elderly with no home or money with a comfortable home unit on the Coast at low rent,” Dr Wright said.
“That number will double before I depart Planet Earth – we are well on the way.”