A new satellite clinic is alleviating the squeeze for Motueka’s Greenwood Health, which was “literally running out of space”.
Greenwood Health’s patient numbers are approaching 10,000 – almost 2000 more than when the facility first opened in 2008.
A refurbished house, located just around the corner at 2 Wilkinson St, is providing much-needed space for planned care and select community health services.
The Wilkinson St Clinic is the new base for a range of nurse-led services, including respiratory care, spirometry, diabetes management, travel health, ear suctioning, and advanced care planning. It also hosts Dr Colette Pienaar and Dr Oliver Madigan’s skin check clinics, offering both spot and full body checks. These services are open to anyone in the community, regardless of enrolment status.
In addition, the Wilkinson St clinic houses a broader team of health professionals, including a health coach, dietitian, clinical pharmacist and visiting specialists from Nelson Hospital.
General manager Sarah Satherley says that the practice had been “literally running out of space”.
“The new Wilkinson St Clinic allows us to work more efficiently, support staff to work to the top of their scope, and offer patients more timely and targeted care,” she says.
Clinical nurse manager Sarah Hyder agrees the new space supports an extended care model.
“It allows our nurses to take on more cases that would traditionally sit with GPs, which means patients can be seen more quickly and by the right person. It also frees up our GPs for high-acuity work.”
The new clinic provides services closer to home, “rather than having [patients] traipse to Nelson to see their geriatrician or pediatrician”.
As well as two clinical rooms, the new space houses a “less-confronting” non-clinical space, Sarah Satherley says. The room is designed to be quieter and more fitting for “patients who may feel overwhelmed in a busy medical setting,”.
“We’ve really tried to create an environment that feels more like home.”
Core GP business and urgent care will still take place at the main clinic on Greenwood St, with Wilkinson St focusing solely on planned appointments.
After months of restrictions, Greenwood Health is now able to open its books to new patients who are not currently enrolled with another local GP. The satellite clinic was officially opened last Monday with a blessing led by local kaumātua Kevin Miratana and Sean Delany.
Sarah pays tribute to all of those involved, saying it has been “a huge effort by many hands and hearts”.
