GP chain owner says he’s staying put after evictions

A member of Destiny Church whose lowcost GP practices have been evicted from two Christchurch buildings says he will build his own medical centre at the city’s national marae.

George Ngatai, who stood as a candidate for Vision New Zealand party in the

2020 general election, runs 12 medical centres, six Covid-19 testing centres and three vaccination clinics in Auckland, Northland, Lower Hutt and Christchurch.

He has been given notice on his two health centres in Aranui and Wainoni.

However, on Thursday Ngatai said he had reached an agreement with Nga¯ Hau e Wha¯ National Marae in Pages Rd to build a new medical centre for the 3000 patients who had enrolled at his two Christchurch practices.

The agreement has been criticised by the group representing Nga¯ i Tahu on the Canterbury health board, Mana Whenua Ki Waitaha.

The group’s chairwoman, Michelle Turrall, said Ngatai did not have a relationship with the local community or Nga¯ i Tahu.

‘‘He’s a businessman. He’s seen an opportunity for business down here, and he’s taken it,’’ Turrall said. ‘‘In terms of us, being a Ma¯ ori businessman, he hasn’t followed tikanga (Ma¯ ori values), he hasn’t followed protocols, so we don’t support it, because we don’t know about it, we don’t know him.’’

Ngatai’s tenancy at his medical centre in Portsmouth St, Aranui – Wha¯ nau Ora Te Waipounamu Practice where he has

2200 enrolled patients – was terminated by landlord and former employee Dr Paul Hercock this month.

Hercock – who founded a medical clinic at the site in 1994 – said he gave Ngatai notice on September 7. He will reopen a medical centre in the same building on November 1, in partnership with general practice company Better Health Group.

Coincidentally, kaupapa Ma¯ ori social services provider He Waka Tapu gave Ngatai 90 days’ notice on his lease to operate a clinic on the agency’s Pages Rd, Wainoni, premises after it opened less than a year ago.

Ngatai’s national network of medical centres jointly called the Wha¯nau Ora Community Clinic offers a low-cost model, where wha¯nau can pay $2 per week to receive health services from nurses or GPs on site and online.

In Christchurch, he said he had nurse practitioners permanently based at each of the two sites and the equivalent of two and a half full-time GPs, who worked across both.

Virtual appointments were always available for urgent appointments, Ngatai said.

Ngatai said he had negotiated a very long lease and approval to build a permanent facility at the marae. He expected the build to take six to eight months, but the clinic would be able to operate temporarily in an existing building at the site until it was completed. ‘‘It’s going to be a medical practice, a community meeting room, and we’re likely going to design an early learning centre to be attached as well.’’

Te Runanga o Nga Maata Waka chief executive Norm Dewes said there was clearly a need for improved access to health care in the community, and he was excited about the collaboration.

The runanga, part of the urban Ma¯ ori authority movement, was established in the 1970s by Ma¯ ori who had moved from all over New Zealand to Christchurch.

‘‘This is a medical centre for all people, but we want to make sure the Ma¯ ori people feature and are involved in providing an essential service, so we can keep our people healthy and safe.’’

Dewes said people who already accessed a range of social services at the marae would benefit from the proposal.

Cost was the biggest barrier to health care for Ma¯ ori, Dewes said.

Ngatai and his wife of more than two decades, Raewyn Bhana, have both received Queen’s Service Medals (QSM) for their community work.

They founded Whanau Ora Community Clinic in 2014 to make healthcare more affordable.

Ngatai has also pursued political ambitions, running as a National candidate in 2002 and switching to Hannah Tamaki’s Vision New Zealand party in the 2020 election.

He has also been a leading figure in Destiny Church, where he once led its social services arm Te Runanga a Iwi o Te Oranga Ake.

Ngatai said he was still ‘‘very much’’ a member of Destiny Church but did not share the views of leaders Hannah and Brian Tamaki, who announced they would not be getting the vaccine.

Ngatai said he was looking forward to getting vaccinated in about six weeks after completing a cancer drug trial.

Meanwhile, He Waka Tapu general manager Jackie Burrows said the organisation had provided space in its building for Ngatai’s clinic at no cost and had been disappointed at the lack of collaboration. They had given the clinic until December to move out.

The clinic space would then be used for community nursing and traditional Ma¯ ori medicine services.

The organisation is the largest kaupapa Ma¯ori social services organisation in Christchurch and works with very high needs clients who need support for issues including drug and alcohol addiction, family violence and mental health needs.

Meanwhile, patients enrolled at the Aranui clinic will be given the option of enrolling with Hercock’s Better Health Group at the same site, or moving with Ngatai’s practice to its new location.

Hercock said he and Better Health Group had offered to buy the practice from Ngatai, but he declined.

Hercock established Te Rawhiti Family Care Clinic at the Portsmouth St site in 1994 before selling to Ngatai in 2016. The GP remained at the clinic under new ownership, in a part-time capacity, before finishing late last year.

Ngatai said under Wha¯ nau Ora Community Clinic management, the Aranui practice had expanded the number of patients from about 1200 to 2200, and reduced the fee from $17 to $10 per visit.

His clinics and Hercock’s had different approaches to patient care, Ngatai said.

Wha¯ nau Ora Community Clinic equips patients to manage their own health, without creating unnecessary reliance on clinic staff, said Ngatai.

Hercock declined to comment on the management of the Wha¯nau Ora Te Waipounamu Practice but said under his care, some patients with chronic health conditions may be encouraged to see nurses ‘‘more often’’.