This 30 year milestone was celebrated with a morning tea and presentation to Margaret in recognition of her service to the community and the Medical Centre.

The gallery of images has a few from the film days of 1989 and some more recent pictures. Margaret is only one of our dedicated staff, many who have years of service and are the backbone of the medical centre team. 

30 years has seen some remarkable changes with handwritten appointment books, records and scripts being replaced by computerised systems.  In 1989 Tarawera Medical Centre became the first group practice in Kawerau with doctors Tony Whitehead and John Anderton, and offered visiting Orthopaedic specialist clinics which continue to this day. Addition of an onsite  Medical Laboratory service was another first for Kawerau. More recently Tarawera Pharmacy and Tarawera Physiotherapy, which are independent businesses, added to the range of services available onsite. Tarawera Medical Centre has always been completely owned by the practicing doctors so we have been able to pursue a philosophy of quality care without the pressure of outside shareholders prioritising profit over patients. A number of our staff have  pursued further study and qualifications to expand the range of medical, surgical and nursing services available to patients in Kawerau.