Owning our future - Medical Centre
By Stan Stewart
Every day when we motor down Joan Gaskell Drive, we take a sideways glimpse at the emerging of the new Medical Centre and wonder, “Is it on time? Have there been holdups?” Lorraine Macallister, Business Manager at the Mercury Bay Medical Centre, reassures us. “The project is on time. There have been no hold ups. It will open as scheduled on Monday, July 3, 2023 and the public is invited.” Phew! Great news. Mark this date on your calendar. Five Doctors, a Nurse Practitioner and a Prescribing Clinical Pharmacist will be located in this facility. As to the range of medical procedures available in the Centre, more details will be announced closer to the opening. As to the developments either side of the Medical Centre, these are quite separate but will be related to health matters. Other Doctors and medical facilities already established in town will continue their practices in their current locations. Lorraine points out that there will be real advantages in having the team on the one site. Obviously, the ease of communication between medicos will be an advantage for all.
Pauanui and Whitianga - their future changed We all know that Pauanui is not Whitianga, but we are both beach communities on the Coromandel Peninsula and there are other connections. A few copies of this huge book, ‘Paunanui’ is currently available at a bargain basement price of $20 from the Pauanui Information Centre. The special interest for Mercury Bay residents is to be found in the first 150 pages. It is the account of one family, the Hoppers, moved from farming, into road contracting and eventually into creating a world class beach resort in the bush behind Pauanui Beach. The way the vision emerged is told in detail. This was a family affair entailing hard work and substantial risk. They were not guided by professional resort planners from Hawaii or the Caribbean. These were hard working Kiwi families who had a dream and stuck with it until the dream materialized. There were many obstacles, risks and difficulties, but this family and their friends never stopped believing that they could create a beach paradise. ‘By the sweat of their brows’ is an apt description. The canals in Whitianga have been a great boon to our community. As far as a beach destination the canals have taken our community up a notch or ten. How did this happen? Who made it happen? The Hoppers. The same family who by the sweat of their brows created Pauanui. If you’re interested in the impetus and vision behind the quality growth of our town and district you should at least read the fi rst 150 pages of this book. ‘Pauanui’ - published by Celebrity Books, Auckland. Currently for sale at the Pauanui Information Centre $20. The Whitianga Library has a copy