Katikati Medical Centre: Locals warn of community impact if contract changes

Robins Nest Early Childhood Centre owner Zoe Farnath with an 18-month-old from her daycare, Eva Watts, from Katikati. Photo / Merle Cave

A Katikati resident fears locals will face “a long drive to Tauranga” for healthcare if their medical centre loses its rural funding contract.

Katikati Medical Centre, about 40 minutes’ drive north of Tauranga, receives government funding through a rural primary health care agreement.

The centre’s co-owner and GP Dr Vicky Jones says it has received provisional notice of its rural contract ending on June 30.

She feared it could then be reclassified as “urban” because of potential changes to the definition of a rural practice.

She understood this would mean losing several hundred thousand dollars in rural funding, and the practice no longer being able to afford to open on weekends or public holidays, or to offer some types of more complex or urgent care.

She said she understood a “grandfather” clause meant affected practices would get “some degree of funding” for one year, “and then it will be gone”.

Her online petition to “save” the centre’s rural funding had more than 2300 signatures as of Wednesday.

Health NZ said no decisions had been made on its nationwide rural funding proposal and it could not comment on the specifics of possible funding or transition arrangements.

The agency said it expected any transition would be managed so medical clinics did not see a reduction in funding.

Locals concerned about ‘huge’ impact

Robins Nest Early Childhood Centre owner Zoe Farnath said she was concerned about the centre’s potential loss of its rural funding contract.

“We just like to know that it’s there if we need it and if it’s not there … it’s a long drive to Tauranga.”

Farnath said access to nearby healthcare was essential for families with young children.

In her view: “If services are reduced and families have to travel to Tauranga, it will mean delays in care, added stress, and in some cases, children not being seen as quickly as they should be.”

The mother-of-two said the cost of travel and lack of public transport could also be barriers for families.

“Tauranga’s health services are already under significant pressure, and this would only add to that strain.”

Robins Nest owner Zoe Farnath with Katikati Medical Centre in the background on the corner of Beach Rd and Clive Rd, Katikati. Photo / Merle Cave

She urged Health NZ to ensure rural communities continued to have “fair access to essential care”.

“We rely on strong local health services to support our tamariki and their whānau. Reducing these services will have a real impact across the whole community.”

Katikati Bowling Club president Bryn Gradwell said the club had an “aged demographic” with many “frequent visitors” to the medical centre.

If the changes went ahead, “it would have a huge impact”.

Gradwell said accessing medical appointments, treatment and advice locally was “more than a convenience”.

“There’s an anxiousness about not being able to see your own GP or people you’re familiar with.

“Our people just visiting the local medical centre is a comfort in itself rather than going somewhere strange and they’re unfamiliar with.”

He said Tauranga Hospital was up to 40 minutes away “on a good run”.

“But many a time, our people have been there for one-and-a-half hours in the traffic, or longer.”

Katikati Medical Centre is facing losing its rural funding contract with Health NZ.

Katikati Community Board member John Clements said several “quite horrified” people had approached him about the potential change.

“There is general concern because it’s not convenient.”

Clements said a lot of elderly people lived in Katikati and it would be “virtually impossible” for them to travel to and from Tauranga.

He was also concerned about the additional demand it would place on the hospital.

Western Bay of Plenty District Council Mayor James Denyer said he supported maintaining healthcare services in Katikati.

Katikati Medical Centre has about 9500 enrolled patients.

Health NZ living well acting director Astuti Balram said the agency was considering changes to rural funding proposed by a primary care sector rural working group and no decisions had been made.

The proposal was aimed at strengthening funding for practices serving rural communities to better support rural communities’ access to primary health care, Balram said.

“If changes to rural funding allocation are agreed, then Health NZ would expect to ensure that the transition is managed so that medical clinics do not see a reduction in their funding.”

Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and the Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.