Andrew Brown, who started his general practice five years ago, marks another milestone this week. Photo/File
Five years ago, Andrew Brown set himself a five-year plan - to build his sole medical practice into a fully fledged medical centre.
On Friday, almost five years to the day after Dr Brown and his wife, Tanya, laid out their plan, the Jabulani Medical Centre will officially open its doors, with Prime Minister John Key doing the honours.
Dr Brown worked for 10 years at Wanganui Hospital as an anaesthetist prior to going into general practice and opening Jabulani Medical five years ago at 174 Wicksteed St.
The old villa has been home to medical practice for 90 years but creating the medical centre has meant a major interior upgrade of the building.
Dr Brown has been joined by Dr Bill Douglas, who had been in sole practice for the past 28 years at Quay Medical Centre. Both are directors of the new centre.
Three other GPs are also in the practice, Ruth Carter, Marlene Bonnet and John Lufkin. A sixth is joining them in February.
Dr Brown said the business brain behind the new centre was his wife, who is the practice manager and also a director. Without her, the venture would not have got off the ground.
Creating a centre involving a number of GPs had been a dream of the Browns.
"As well as creating a strong working unit of GPs it also provides succession planning. Bill and I will be looking at exiting the practice sooner rather than later so it makes sense to have a stable workforce coming along behind. It lets those younger doctors buy into the business."
He said a group practice made sense for a variety of reasons, not least of which was economies of scale. But, more importantly, it allowed a much greater peer involvement; a collegiality among the doctors which let them discuss issues about patients and their treatment.
Dr Brown said when the sixth GP arrived the centre would have four full-time GPs and the other two would work one or two days a week. As well, there were four nurses and an administrative team.
He said the establishment of the medical centre fitted with the Ministry of Health's push for top-end primary health care.
"We'll also look to extend our business hours, staying open later to suit those who cannot get to see us during a normal working day."
It was all aimed at being to the patients' benefit.
A key to success was the staff: "We've surrounded ourselves with wonderful people, whether its nursing or administration."
Mrs Brown said it had been a tough slog to get to this stage.
"Wanganui is a trying environment to get a foothold in, especially when you're a new doctor. Structures and systems have been in place for years, so to get a foot in the door is challenging."
GPs working alone were overwhelmed by all the administrative work they had to wade through, Mrs Brown said.
"Seeing patients is probably about a quarter of their job.
"What the patients don't see is all the paperwork a doctor has to do, usually after the last patient has gone."
The decision to create the practice had not been financially rewarding.
"We've made huge sacrifices to set this up. If it wasn't for a family trust back in South Africa, we couldn't have done this. At the end of the next five years, we may see a profit but that's not why we're doing this," Mrs Brown said.
The Browns see the centre as a throwback to the old-fashioned type of health care. Dr Brown set out to be a family GP first and foremost, looking after a family from cradle to grave.
"That's something patients have always said to me about Andrew; the fact he listens," Mrs Brown said.
The Jabulani Medical Centre's vision statement, "Your health, your doctor, your future", best summed up the centre.
Dr Brown said: "We aim to improve overall population health targets with programmes such as cardiovascular risk assessments, diabetes and cervical screening.
"Our practice will deliver a unique health service to our patients through our new patient-enrolment system, annual health checks and lifestyle clinics."
The word Jabulani is Zulu in origin and means to be happy.
Nurses include Geraldine Service and Maggie Mowat, with Carol Riddiford and Priscilla Wilson in the administration.