106 | COMMUNITY Southlink - Steve Mowat Building T T Russell Fredric Purpose-built facility nearing completion Construction has been undertaken by Steve Mouat Building in collaboration with local project management firm Feldspar. Green Island Medical Centre’s new purpose-built facility is close to being completed. Located in the Dunedin suburb of Green Island, the building and its staff will provide for the community’s primary health care needs well into the future. The new facility will be known as the Saddle View Health Centre. The facility is one of 26 nationwide that operates under the umbrella of Southlink Health Group which is governed by the South Link Education Trust, a charitable non-profit organisation. Some are owned in partnership with general practitioners while others are 100% owned by Southlink Health. Southlink Health chief executive Karl Andrews says the main driver behind building the new facility is to provide a well-designed, modern medical centre for clinicians, support staff and patients that will be a significant asset to the community. Located beside Saint Peter Chanel school, it is being provided in collaboration with the Catholic Diocese of Dunedin which owned the land it is being built on. “The joint venture with and the Catholic Diocese of Dunedin has worked well, and they’ve been very supportive all the way through.” The need for the new centre is based on Southlink Health identifying the need to plan for increased population growth in the region and to ensure the community has access to a modern facility that had the ability to attract and retain good staff, Karl says. The centre’s staff currently comprises two doctors, two nurse practitioners and a nurse prescriber, four nurses, a healthcare assistant, practice manager and five administration staff. Southlink Health brings considerable experience to the design and layout of the new building which will provide 450 square metres of space. “We’ve got a history of doing this in other areas, we know what works in terms of patient flow, how staff work together well, where to locate triage areas, and to create efficient workspaces for administration and reception staff.” “The team will find the new one is like night and day from where they were.” Construction has been undertaken by Steve Mouat Building in collaboration with local project management firm Feldspar. “We are very fortunate to work with Feldspar; as a project management team they’ve done a number of successful developments for us. We made a decision with this project that we wanted to get it up and running quickly and to involve Steve Mouat in the design and build process. “We were impressed with the work they had done for us refitting our new head office “The joint venture with and the Catholic Diocese of Dunedin has worked well, and they’ve been very supportive all the way through.” building; they’ve given us a good experience so far through pricing in the design phase, getting on with the work and delivering to the time frame we wanted.” Construction started July last year; the centre is expected to be fully operational mid-July this year. As a significant primary healthcare provider, Southlink Health supports general practice throughout New Zealand through providing ongoing administration and financial management, staffing and clinical support. This wrap around support is a key element of Southlink Health’s model and enables medical practitioners and other staff to focus on what they do best. This support extends to practise management, centralised accounting, HR and payroll, IT services and support, facilities management and property development and project management. “Our ethos is that we want clinical staff to be the best doctors and the best nurses that they can be to provide the best patient outcomes that they possibly can deliver, without the burden of having to either manage the practise or look after the administration.” The genesis of the South Link Group came about 30 years ago when Prof. Murray Tilyard formed the Independent Practitioners Association for the network of South Island general practices under the health reforms of the time. Subsequent health reforms led to a structured and planned general practice acquisition process throughout New Zealand during the following years. “We look after approximately 165,000 patients throughout the country and are the third largest primary healthcare provider, behind two major corporates. “Our point of difference is that we are a charitable organisation; we are not owned by any private equity so that separates us out in terms of what we are trying to achieve.” “Our focus is general practice sustainability, and our goal is to make sure that GP services and access to primary care continues given some of the challenges that are this sector of healthcare is facing.” Aotea Electric Southern is proud to be associated with Southlink and Steve Mowat Building Aotea Electric Southern 03 455 1039 | aoteaelectric.co.nz pulseplumber@gmail.com Jye 021 225 4142 / Chris 027 416 6385 Pulse Plumbing are proud to support Southlink & Steve Mowat Building g
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