New Medical Centre a Step Closer

New Medical Centre a Step Closer

A new medical centre for the people of Amuri is about to move a step closer.

The Council this month let a million dollar tender for the construction of a new Community Health Centre to Kaikoura based builder, Bruce Ensor.

(This is the same builder who is currently working on the new administration block for Hanmer Springs School).

The centre will be built in Rotherham. Work is due to begin in September and will be completed next April.

Engineering Services Manager, Bruce Yates says a lot of work has been done over the past year talking with staff of the existing medical centre to ensure the design would meet their’s and the community’s needs now and well into the future.

“The letting of the tender is a significant move forward when you consider this is among the largest investments of public money in the area in quite some time.

“It is an affirmation of the need for a modern building and facility to house an expanding service to meet the needs of a growing community and confirmation of the council’s commitment to ensuring its residents can access appropriate and timely health care.”

The Hurunui District Council also owns medical centres in Waikari, Cheviot and Hanmer Springs. It is one of the few local authorities in the country to facilitate the provision of health care in its communities, a move designed to make it easier to attract and retain rural doctors in the district.

The Hurunui District Council inherited the existing Amuri health centre building from the former county council and has added to it over the years to the point where Bruce Yates says it has simply outgrown itself.

“The centre provides a far greater range of medical services today than it was ever envisaged would be the case when the original structure was built. Not just general practice, but also district nursing and specialist care such as physiotherapy are now provided. There simply isn’t enough space to properly cater for everyone under the existing roof.”

The new centre will be a single storied timber framed building with plaster and stone veneer and cover 489 square metres. It will also house a locum cottage.

It will be built on an empty section at the corner of Heaton and Wilkins Streets in the centre of Rotherham.

The Hurunui District Council has also purchased the vacant lot next door to allow for a possible village green .which will make the whole development a focal point of public facilities in the Rotherham township.

The entire Amuri community has fully supported a new medical centre and last year began paying a targeted rate to cover the costs of construction.

ENDS

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