A doctor has been called out of retirement to a Horowhenua clinic, where the last remaining general practitioner resigned last month.
Levin’s Taitoko Health has announced that Dr Andy van de Vyver will return to the clinic for five months, after retiring last year.
Dr van de Vyver served the community for 40 years at the clinic, previously known as Masonic Medical Centre.
Commenters on the clinic’s Facebook announcement reacted positively to the news, welcoming him back.
One comment read: “I jumped out of my chair when I got this email! We have certainly missed you.
“On the other hand, your retirement has been very well deserved, and I’m sad you have to leave that to come back and help, so I’m glad for you that it is only 5 months!
“And thank you… it means so much to so many of us.”
Since his retirement, a dozen staff have left or given notice, including four GPs, among whom was the last remaining GP for the clinic, where 4500 patients were enrolled.
Taitoko Health was run by OmniHealth, whose clinics – owned through the Tararua Health Group – were put on a temporary freeze by Health New Zealand over concerns about workloads and patient safety.