GB Medical Centre welcomes two new doctors
Joanna and Gawen Howard with their children Carlos and Maata. Photo: Jane Bellerby.
Golden Bay residents are welcoming the arrival of two new women doctors after being without a resident female practitioner since the retirement of Helen Kingston.
Joanna Howard recently started work at the GB Medical Centre, and Jocelyn Tracey extends her existing half day in January. Both women will work part time, each being available for up to three-and-a-half days a week. They bring with them a diversity of experiences to their roles as general practitioners.
Dr Howard, a graduate of Otago University, has a special interest in geriatric care as well as having years of general practice service in remote areas. These include the foothills of the Indian Himalayas, Cape York in Northern Queensland and Tom Price, Western Australia. She brings knowledge and interest in tropical health to her scope of practice and says she likes the challenge and diversity of rural practice.
As one of the team of doctors, Joanna is looking forward to being on call only every fifth night.
“After the lesser staffing in the isolation of Tom Price, the extra collegial support is great,” says Joanna. Attending the scene of accidents—one of the duties of a Golden Bay doctor—will be a new experience, but she is confident in the support of the St John Ambulance volunteers and the skills and expertise they bring to an emergency.
Joanna intends to make Golden Bay her home for the foreseeable future as she and her husband Gawen think it’s a great place to bring up their young children, Maata (5) and Carlos (4).
“We’re looking forward to getting out and camping around the wonderful places in Golden Bay. No crocodiles, scorpions or snakes to look out for, and it’s not far from family in Richmond either.”
Jocelyn Tracey has been resident here for a few years, continuing to work around New Zealand as both a locum GP and in her specialty field of integration between primary and secondary health care. She is now working Monday mornings at the Medical Centre and is also rostered on call for the Golden Bay Community Hospital.
Jane Bellerby
The Golden Bay Medical Centre doctors, nurses and clerical staff are now employed by the Nelson Bays Primary Health Organisation as part of the move towards integration of health services in Golden Bay.
A room at the Golden Bay Community Hospital has been assigned as a primary care space as an interim arrangement until the new facilities are built. It is hoped it will make after-hours care, particularly night-time callouts, more convenient for medical staff. It is not an emergency department and the existing system of making contact with a doctor after hours will continue. People can contact the on-call doctor who will then decide what treatment is necessary and where it will be done.
The Golden Bay Medical Centre number is 525 9911.
