Farewells and welcomes at Tararua Health
With the departure of popular American doctors Dr Elaine Reed and Dr Richard Neill, there are new replacements to fill the void for Tararua residents.
Dr Craig McMillan is leaving to return to Scotland in September, and he with his wife Charlotte and son Duncan will be greatly missed.
Dr Peter Nelson arrived in March as a permanent replacement for retired GP Dr Brian Quick.
Dr Abbey Ward, who trained as a registrar under Dr Pauline Blackmore in Dannevirke, liked it so much that she has returned in a permanent capacity, having nearly completed her GP specialist training.
Dr Jane Laver has also decided to return to the Tararua Health Group in a permanent part-time capacity.
Her two-year absence has seen her working for the Rural General Practice Network providing cover in far-flung centres like Wairoa, Pa¯ tea and Westport.
Dr Laver also took the opportunity to travel overseas, holidaying and to follow her son Edwin who was racing for New Zealand in the Under 23 Rowing team. Edwin won a silver medal in Poland 2018.
Tararua health Group has another female GP starting midAugust in a permanent part-time role.
However with the departure of three full time General Practitioners there are still many gaps across both Dannevirke and Pahiatua practices.
In an attempt to recruit more medical staff THG Administration Manager Tania Last, along with Mark Wills, Director of Omni Health will be winging their way to London in October to attend the British Medical Journal Careers Expo with the aim of securing permanent GPs for the region.