Doctor plans fast delivery care clinics

Kiwi doctor Lance O’Sullivan’s lightbulb moment came to him at 3am, when he woke up thinking: ‘‘I’m going to create drive-through medical clinics.’’

In just two weeks, O’Sullivan has turned his dream into a reality. By the end of 2021, he plans to open 200 drive-through medical clinics around the country.

O’Sullivan told Stuff that a major problem in some of our communities was the lack of access to medical care. He aims to change that with 200 portable clinics.

O’Sullivan is the founder of the Moko Foundation, a non-profit charitable trust that supports vulnerable children and young people. He’s also a Ma¯ori Entrepreneur in Residence at AUT.

He announced his plan to open the clinics at an AUT lecture on Monday night.

Each mobile clinic will be made from 40-foot refurbished containers and will have two drive-through windows.

The clinics would also have two triage rooms and a clinic room for people who needed to see someone face-to-face about health problems. A digital platform would also be created for patients.

‘‘If you can get a Big Mac or a Happy Meal in less than seven minutes, you can certainly as hell get healthcare,’’ he said at the lecture.

O’Sullivan recently went to China and purchased the first container, which will be shipped to New Zealand. He aims to establish community partnerships to help with funding the ‘‘network’’ of clinics.

The first clinic will be open in Rotorua by November. The following clinics will then open in Kaitaia and Northcote.

The reason the first clinic would be based in Rotorua was because of the high need for medical care there, especially among young Ma¯ ori women, he said.

‘‘The reason to have drivethrough facilities is not to be encouraging a really sedentary community, it’s to say that we can be as swift in your delivery of healthcare as it can be to get a super-sized meal from McDonalds.’’

O’Sullivan hoped the portable clinics would be based in supermarket car parks around the country, not just in the major cities. He planned to have conversations with supermarket chains yesterday.

The Ministry of Health’s Keriana Brooking said the ministry acknowledged O’Sullivan’s intentions. It encouraged him to work with district health boards, the primary funders of primary care services in New Zealand.