KMC Christmas Hours 2024

Karori Medical Centre will be closing for the Christmas and New Year Holidays on December 25th and 26th and on January 1st and 2nd repectively. Outside of these days we are open as normal.

If medical care is needed on the days we are closed, Wellington Afterhours Medical Centre is open for walk-in appoinments and Karori Medical Centre patients can have a virtual medical appoinment with Practice Plus –  www.practiceplus.co.nz.

If you need a repeat prescription to ensure you have enough medication for the holiday break, we ask that you request this either via your Manage My Health Portal or by calling our scriptline. Please do this by Friday Decmber 20th so we can complete your request before we close for the holidays.

 

The team at KMC wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy New Year.

 

Fees Payment Policy

Commencing September 9th 2024 our expectation is that all consultations in the practice are paid for on the day, immediately following your appoinment with us.

Any consultation fee that is not settled on the day will incur an additional $10 charge and a statement reflecting this will be emailed to the account holder.

We will accept a regular automatic payment arrangement from those patients not able to pay in full on the day. This will not incur the additional $10 charge. Please speak with reception immediately following your appointment if you wish to set this up.

Ear Microsuctioning

KMC are now offering Ear Microsuctioning.  This is a clinic we will have running weekly.

Ear Microsuctioning is one of the safest and most comfortable methods to remove earwax and debris from the ear canal.

The cost for this is $70 and takes approximately 30 minutes.  Call us to book an appointment.

We are closed Good Friday & Easter Monday

If you need a medical appointment over the easter break, Practice Plus is avaliable for online appointments 8am-8pm.

KMC will be open Saturday morning 9am-12pm for same day booked appointments.

WAMC in Adelaide Road, Newtown is open every day of the easter break, 8am-9pm for walk-in urgent care.

Flu Vaccination 2024

From April 2nd Karori Medical Centre is offering appointments for flu vaccinations.  Getting immunised will help stop the spread of flu around the community and to those more likely to experience severe illness from the flu. We encourage everyone to protect themselves, and others this flu season.

The flu vaccine is free for people at higher risk of getting very sick from the flu including:

  • people aged 65 and over
  • people who have a long-term medical condition like diabetes, asthma or a heart condition (ages 6 months+)
  • pregnant people
  • children aged 4 years and under who have been hospitalized for respiratory illness or have a history of significant respiratory illness
  • people with mental health conditions, including schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, or schizoaffective disorder
  • people who are currently accessing secondary or tertiary mental health and addiction services.

Speak with us if you have questions about whether you are eligible for a free flu vaccine.

The cost for people not eligible for a free vaccine is $40

The cost for those wanting the additional benefits of the FLUAD vaccine, the cost is $60 (only those aged 65+ are able to have this vaccine)

We are also running two Saturday morning flu vaccination clinics on April 6th and 13th, 9am-11.45pm

Call us now on 9204562 to make your appointment.

 

Merry Christmas from KMC

We would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

KMC will be closed on December 25th and 26th and again on January 1st and 2nd. We will be open our usual hours and days outside of these public holidays.

Wellington Afterhours Medical Centre, Practice Plus and Wellington Hospital Emergency Department are open on these days for KMC patients if they require medical advice and assistance.

 

Dr Chan Dassanayake to leave KMC in December

KMC will be saying goodbye to Chan at the end of December, after 27 years here.  If you are registered with Chan please call or chat with us next time you are in about registering with one of the other members of the GP team.  A letter to patients from Chan is below.

 

September 2023

Tēnā koe

My dear patient

I am writing to you to let you know that I will be leaving Karori Medical Center (KMC) at the end of this year – December 2023.

I signal this to you, ahead of time, to give you plenty of notice and to allow you time to find a new GP, to be your partner, on your health journey.

I have been at KMC for 27 years, and it has been a wonderous journey, and a time when I have grown as a person and doctor with your help. Being a GP has been a vocation,  and I have tried to provide a professional, and caring service, based on honesty and integrity and to the best of my ability with the resources available. I know I have not always lived up to the standards I set myself, and I apologise if I have failed you in any way during my time.

It has not been an easy decision to leave, but while I am ‘young’ enough, I would like a change in my life and a new set of challenges.  I have no idea what is next, but I need to leave KMC,  to free up time for myself, to be available for new ventures within primary care.

KMC has been my second home and will always be special to me. I cherish all the people who I have worked with at the medical center. They are an amazingly resillient, adaptable, capable and caring group of professionals, who go beyond what is required in their roles, often making personal sacrifices to do their jobs and often without recognition.

I have the upmost confidence in their ability and the future of KMC. My family are currently and will continue to be registered with the Centre, because of the trust I have in them.  The Centre has a wide variety of doctors, of varying ages and with varying sub specialties, and so I would urge you to start the process to find your best fit, given my pending abscence.

I am so grateful to have had the privilege to look after you and to be a part of your lives, during the joyous moments as well as sharing the unfortunate downs that are an inevitable part of being human. There is no other job I would have rather done because it has touched me to the core, to be a part of your life, and often your families’ lives, in Karori and the suburbs and sometimes beyond. Thank you so much for that honour.

I wish you all the best, and know that there are amazing health professionals at KMC who will be able to care for you, as I have done, or better!

Noho ora mai

Chan

Ahakoa whati te manga, e takoto ana anō te kōhiwi

Although the branch is broken off, the trunk remains

Flu and Additional Covid Booster Update

From April 1st all Karori Medical Centre enrolled patients are able to book an appoinment for either flu vaccination, an additional Covid booster, or both at the same appoinment.

We will also be offering Saturday morning appoinments for 3 out of the 4 Saturdays in April to enable better access for our patients.

FLU VACCINATION

  • The flu vaccine is free for people at higher risk of getting very sick from the flu including:
    • children aged 6 months to 12 years old
    • pregnant people
    • Māori and Pacific people over 55
    • people aged 65 and over
    • people with underlying health conditions including heart disease, cancer, diabetes and serious asthma
    • people with significant mental illness such as schizophrenia or those currently accessing mental health services.
  • For those not funded, the flu vaccine will cost $36 for those over 12 years of age and $49 for those aged 65 and over that choose the unfunded Fluad Quad vaccine.

COVID-19 BOOSTERS

  • From April 1st all New Zealanders you are eligible if:
    • aged 30 and over or
    • at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

    It will need to be at least 6 months since your last COVID-19 booster or a positive COVID-19 test.  COVID-19 vaccination is free to all New Zealanders.

    High-risk groups include:

    • people aged 65 years and over
    • Māori and Pacific peoples aged 50 years and over
    • residents of aged care and disability care facilities
    • severely immunocompromised people
    • people aged 16 years and over who have a medical condition that increases the risk of severe breakthrough COVID-19 illness
    • people aged 16 years and over who live with a disability with significant or complex health needs or multiple comorbidities.

Call us on 9204562 to book an appoinment, or if you have any questions about flu or Covid-19 vaccinations.

Manage My Health Update

As a practice we have reviewed the way the Manage My Health is working.  We want to maintain this service as it is an effective and convenient way to access your health record and provider. However, the workload that is involved in offering this service to our patients has increased dramatically and we find ourselves unable to continue with the current structure.

From January 16th 2023 the following will apply: a $25 payment will be required to email your GP via Manage My Health for brief medical contact.

The existing $25 charge for a prescription request remains unchanged.

If your GP believes that your question or concern requires an appointment then the $25 Manage My Health fee will be credited toward the cost of your consultation.