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Gore Medical Centre – located in the Gore District, in the heart of Southland.
Gore is a small town in the heart of Southland with a population of around 13,000. It services a large agricultural heartland in an area of outstanding natural beauty. Gore punches above its weight with a range of family friendly facilities and offers a great number of recreational opportunities.
The sports fields, parks and town gardens are kept to a high standard and well-utilised. All facilities are within an easy walk or drive and you can go home for lunch.
Gore is located in the hub of Southland. Just two hours (or less) easy drive to Central Otago, the ski fields of Queenstown, the beautiful town of Te Anau (base for the Fiordland National Park), Stewart Island, the Catlins coast and Dunedin. With wide open spaces and stunning scenery, Gore has a lot to offer individuals, couples and families.
Gore is known as the Brown Trout Capital of the World – if you have an interest in fishing, you will not be disappointed. Access to the Mataura River is easy, fish are plentiful and the water is often described as “gin clear.” The Mataura is famous for its mayfly hatches and spinner falls. There are also a number of other local rivers that provide good recreational fishing.
About the Gore Medical Centre (GMC)
The practice is located one block from the Gore hospital and 1 kilometre from the town’s central business area. The practice is comprised of two GP Directors, five other part-time GPs, a dedicated team of 10 nurses, six clinical support staff, Practice Manager and Finance Officer.
The practice has nine GP consulting rooms, five nurse consult rooms, telephone triage room and is well equipped with ECG, spirometry, Butterfly US and a minor surgery suite.
We host a Health Improvement Practitioner (HIP), a health coach and regular visits from an Orthopaedic surgeon and a specialist physiotherapist. We have robust peer review programmes for both doctors and nurses, with innovation and academic endeavour strongly encouraged. With an ongoing commitment to under-graduate education, the practice hosts 6th year medical students, post graduate Doctors, GP registrars and Polytechnic nursing students.
GMC is a Cornerstone accredited practice, fully computerised using the Indici patient management system. Other support services include a daily laboratory service.
It has 8,200 enrolled patients and demand for services continues to grow. It is open from 8.30am until 5.00pm each day. The afterhours service is based at the GMC and is shared with the Gore hospital-based GP.
The local hospital has an accident and emergency department. It has 20 inpatient beds (including four maternity), visiting specialists, laboratory, x-ray, physiotherapy, occupational and speech therapy, social work and mental health services. There is a local St John’s ambulance service based in Gore with paramedic support. The closest base hospital is Southland, in Invercargill, 76 kilometres from the practice.
We decided to join the Rural Health Network as it specifically supports and advocates for rural health.
Key challenges
Difficulties attracting permanent GPs. We are in the same position as many other practices trying to recruit new staff amongst a limited national and global pool. As a teaching practice, we can offer a lot of support to House Officers (PGY2s), GP Registrars or any new GP wanting to experience a great general practice option while enjoying Rural City Living in Gore.
Check our website – www.goremedical.co.nz for more information about our practice and consider joining us in the deep south.
