Northland doctor and nurse duo open new medical centre

Nurse Liz Denton, Dr Jim Schimanski and office administrator Tana Iosefa outside the new Maungatapere Medical Centre. Photo / Tania Whyte

A Whangārei doctor and nurse have gone into business together with the goal of providing some relief to their community in the midst of a nationwide health crisis.

News of the new general practice clinic will be music to the ears of Whangārei locals struggling to enrol with doctors with full books.

Nurse Liz Denton and Dr Jim Schimanski said the idea for the practice had been in the works for almost 20 years.

“It started somewhere between 15 and 20 years ago when we both used to work in ED [the emergency department] at Whangārei Hospital,” Denton said.

“It was a night shift job back then. There were three nurses on night shift, and we were like, ‘One day we’ll start a practice in Maungatapere’, because we both live in that area.

“It was a bit of a joke, like, one day we’ll do that - and then we did.”

The new clinic is located at 10 Mangakahia Road, Maungatapere, Whangārei.

“The impetus came, really, when a local doctor Jan Widdowson retired, so she needed to pass off some jobs, and that kind of set us in motion, really,” Schimanski said.

The pair said they have had a lot of support from Kamo Home and Village Charitable Trust, which owns the building the centre is in.

“We’ve got a lot of positive feedback from the locals and from the businesses down here as well,” Schimanski said.

The clinic is opening on February 1, but is currently open for registrations.

“At the moment, 300 - 400 patients [have enrolled], but that’s growing every day,” Schimanski said.

Schimanski said GPs can take between 1500 and 2500 patients on their books usually, and that’s what they’re aiming for in a few months.

“But we cover a wide area, in the sense that there’s no GP from Tui (Maunu Rd) to Dargaville, and there’s the whole of Otaika Valley... so there’s a big area here that hasn’t been serviced, really.”

The clinic will be open from 8am to 5pm on weekdays, but the pair will be monitoring their phones to offer patients medical advice until 8pm daily, including weekends.

“As the business expands, we’re going to look at some Saturday morning clinics, depending on what the need is in the community,” Denton said.

Denton said the aim of the extended hours was to make it easier for people who work full-time or have young children to access healthcare, as well as take the pressure off of the emergency departments and after-hours clinics.

“We’re always gonna leave a couple of slots open first thing in the morning so that we can have someone come in at eight and we can see them.

“One of my things has always been about providing equitable and accessible healthcare,” Denton said.

Another point of difference is that the clinic is run by a nurse and a doctor who have gone into business together.

“It’s actually quite rare - so, usually, it’s either corporates, or [a] community leader or GP lead.

“I think it keeps us humble as well. When it’s GP-led, you can kind of lose touch with the ground and the coalface,” Schimanski said.

Tana Iosefa has also joined the team as an office administrator, handling reception and accounts, travelling all the way from his home in Dargaville.

“It’s a new challenge, new responsibility, and it’s refreshing,” Iosefa said.

Iosefa has strong faith in the new business and is also completing health training to become an enrolled nurse practice manager.

“It will be successful,” Iosefa said.