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Ashburton
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
FIRST PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 27, 1879
One-stop health centre set for Ashburton close and both patient lists and GPs will merge into the new centre under the Ashburton Family A new health centre being built Health Centre banner. in Ashburton will cater for up to Better Health currently has 10,000 patients and potentially practices set up in both Timaru see other smaller practices close and Christchurch and caters for in favour of the new model. more than 28,000 patients. The two-storey centre, fundThe company has a firm policy ed by local developers and co- of owning no more than 50 per ordinated by medical develop- cent of the practice at any time. ment company Better Health, is “This model ensures the centre expected to be completed next is managed in the best interests year – housing GPs, practice of both the patients and the GPs nurses, physiotherapists and and we believe that’s critically other key health professionals. important,” Mr Jones said. The build is awaiting several “We provide the continuity and consents, but is likely to be built sustainability, the admin and on the corner of Queens Drive the support services and at the and West Street – subject to same time the staff work togethapproval. er to ensure the centre provides Better Health chief executive a comprehensive health service David Jones said the centre con- across a core of primary health cept has already received strong services – all under the same support from several doctors in roof.” Ashburton and interest from Some doctors in Mid GPs out of town has been high. Canterbury have Mr Jones said already signed up the centre would for the new initibe a “one-stop ative – spelling a shop” offering all possible end for health services, in some medical pracThe aim is to a move that will tices next year as release a heavy have a one-stop a merger seems burden on the highly possible. shop and offer district’s GPs and Equally, it is remove mounting understood some all services in pressure in Mid haven’t one place – and doctors Canterbury. supported the new “It is no secret model and instead clearly there Ashburton has see it as a major are facilities been doing it threat, despite the tough for the past centre wanting to in Ashburton few years ... and work with existing at times the presthat need to be health professionsure has been als in the area. updated immense on the “The aim is to medical practichave a one-stop es,” he said. shop and offer all “This health services in one centre is about place – and clearly establishing a fresh and more there are facilities in Ashburton modern model of care which is that need to be updated. We sustainable and in turn that will shouldn’t been seen as a threat,” help smooth the level of service Mr Jones said. out to more manageable bites “The burden of health care is spread right across a whole team continually growing and in the of health professionals. next few years, we know that “In Ashburton the pressure burden will be phenomenal so on GPs isn’t necessarily just we need to put measures in because of a GP shortage, it also place now to tackle that. has a lot to do with the model of “This model of care offers care being delivered, and quite choices, it offers flexibility and a few models in the town are it’s not entirely reliant on the clearly outdated,” Mr Jones said. standard individual practicing Mr Jones, who is working GP ... we’re thinking of new ways closely with local developers to to offer the same level of care establish the new family health and better utilising other staff centre, says health professionals members,” he said. that join up will retain an ownerA variety of options, discussship percentage – ensuring max- ing after hour services, are also imum input from all involved. being discussed. The new model of care will also The new health centre is likely see some practices in Ashburton to be operational by April, 2014. By Sam Morton
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House prices up by 27% in a year By Sue Newman
Photo Tetsuro Mitomo 120313-TM-052
Major project: The sign on the corner of Queens Drive and West Street says it all. A new family health centre will be built in Ashburton and is expected to be operational by April next year.
An artist’s impression of the new facility.
photo supplied
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Ashburton house prices have sky-rocketed 27 per cent in the past year. February saw a new benchmark set for house prices in the Ashburton District with the median sale price hitting $315,000. This was up 27 per cent on February last year ($67,000), 14.5 per cent ($40,000) up on January and that indicates Ashburton’s real estate market has hit a miniboom, says real estate company owner Trevor Hurley. While a run of high price property sales could skew median prices a little, the trend over recent months had been for prices to move steadily upwards. He believes that trend is likely to continue, supported by a strong local economy and low unemployment. “We’re starting to see multiple offers on properties again and we’ve had situations where we’ve achieved up to $30,000 over the vendor’s expectations and where we’ve valued a property at.” The way in which people were marketing their properties was beginning to change also to take advantage of the strong market, Mr Hurley said. Listing with a sale price was now far less common that a listing with a buyer price range or price by negotiation, he said.
“Given the market we’re in, there’s now a wee bit of speculation about what a property is actually worth. I’d call this market in Ashburton at the moment a minibubble compared with the rest of the country. It’s certainly above our normal pattern.” Mr Hurley said there were still cashed up Christchurch buyers looking to buy in Ashburton and that was another factor pushing prices up. “They seem to come in waves, some to buy and some to rent.” While there had been a shortage of listings a few months ago, that had now balanced itself out and there were solid listings across most buyer ranges, he said. “We’re also starting to see a good number of first home buyers and investors in the market. Interest rates are still low, there’s plenty of money available and that’s encouraging extra confidence in our market.” In February 49 houses changed hands in the district, taking an average of 30 days to sell. Ashburton was a strong player in helping Canterbury lead the way in surging house prices and numbers and shrinking days to sell. While Ashburton’s median sale price surged 27 per cent on February last year, prices across the Canterbury median was up 7.4 per cent and the national median increased 7.6 per cent.
Celtic players get the good oil on alcohol awareness By Myles Hume As another season closes in, the Celtic Rugby Club has adopted a proactive approach to raise alcohol awareness in its community. Last night the club was visited by Crusaders assistant coach Tabai Matson, who took players through an intensive training session before heading into the clubrooms to educate the young sportsmen on a more serious topic - alcohol.
Photo Tetsuro Mitomo 120313-TM-101
LEFT: Crusaders assistant coach Tabai Matson speaks to Celtic Rugby Club players about the impact of alcohol and the difference they can make.
Mr Matson is the ambassador of SAY Now, a campaign headed by Sport Canterbury. The campaign is designed to instill alcohol awareness which players and club members could take into the community. “The key message is not about pointing the finger and saying rugby clubs have a problem. It’s about clubs, which are a key part to the community, being in an ideal position to capture and educate,” Sport Canterbury business manager Jonny Kirkpatrick said. After already visiting 15 clubs and nine schools in Canterbury, Mr Matson took the Celtic players through a detailed presentation that showed the impact alcohol had performance-wise, medically and socially.
With 70 young Celtic players in front of him, the former All Black spoke about the days of court sessions and celebratory parties which are now a rarity in professional rugby. “The campaign was really easy for me to get involved in, it (the change in culture) has been such a critical part to Canterbury Rugby’s success and it’s a subject we have been really passionate about,” he said. He pointed to 2006 when Canterbury had a “Sunday session” the week before the semi final, putting them a day behind in their preparation. They lost to a team they beat convincingly in the round robin, prompting a review which changed the drinking culture and led them to a record five
national provincial titles and a tighter team unit. It is something Mr Matson believed was “trickling down” to club level. Mr Kirkpatrick said SAY Now was not the “silver bullet”, but it was a way for clubs to look at changes they could make in the club environment which players would like to see. Speaking to Mr Matson, some of the Celtic players showed a keen interest, saying non-alcoholic team initiations and banning after-match beers in the changing sheds could be alternatives while the club had already stopped player-of-the-day sculls. But Mr Matson took a step back and asked why players drunk in the first place? Some players responded saying
it was social, it tastes good and to celebrate. “Does New Zealand have a problem? Yes we do, but again it’s not about rugby clubs, if you step back and have a look it’s definitely a key issue and you guys are a key influence in the community to make a difference,” Mr Matson said. Celtic Rugby Club president Paul Summerfield said players liked to have a few after-match drinks, but drinking was not a problem at the club. He said there had been a shift in attitude, pointing out the club usually closed at 7pm in recent seasons, “not like the old days when we used to go until 12”. “It’s about being proactive, to be seen doing the right thing and doing the right thing, it’s that simple.”
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