There is a state-of-the-art building rising from the construction dust at 105 Collingwood Street and it’s all set to house an amalgamation of specialist medical services. The Collingwood Centre will be the new premises for Nelson Radiology and the Nelson Orthopaedic Group, as well a new Accident and Medical Centre, pharmacy, café and others.
Peter Faulkner, Manager at Nelson Radiology, says their business has required more space for some years, with the unsatisfactory result that some radiology equipment is presently being operated from other Nelson locations. The move will also mark the end of an era as equipment is upgraded from film & chemistry based X-ray images, to a full digital radiology service.
The radiologists have a close working relationship with the Nelson Orthopaedic Group currently operating from adjacent premises, so the logical next step was to join forces on a larger site. The orthopaedic surgeon and radiologists then formed the Tasman Medical Syndicate and Ben Castle, one of the radiologists, chairs this group.
Peter says, “Ben believes strongly in the integrated health approach where there are many different services available in one location so that you can go to the building and get a number of services referred from one to the other without having to travel. No one building will do everything of course, but ideally this will be a specialist building.”
Ben’s idea sparked the interest of his colleagues and peers in Nelson and together they created the Tasman Medical Syndicate. Some of the same shareholders are behind the Health @ 132 Medical Centre and the successful Lower Queen Street Medical Centre that opened early in 2011. As well as his role at Nelson Radiology, Peter Faulkner is also Syndicate Manager for the Collingwood Centre.
The syndicate’s first major step for this project began in 2008 when it bought the Collingwood Street location. When the existing tenancies expired earlier this year, Gibbons Construction began the hard work of clearing the site and is now bringing to life the vision of Jorgen Andersen, from Arthouse Architecture, creating something Peter thinks will last the test of time.
About two years ago, the syndicate realised they needed the services of someone experienced in commercial property finance and that’s when they asked WHK Principal, Rob Williams to join the board as Financial Director. “Rob has been useful in negotiating loans for the project, and generally giving advice on all financial matters. He continues to be involved in our monthly directors’ meetings and as required between times. He’s been very helpful, offering good practical advice and a pretty fast response when we need it. Rob’s experience in commercial property consulting has really proven invaluable.”
In addition to the specialist radiologists and orthopaedic services, there will also be an Accident and Medical Centre which will cope with less serious cases than you would find at Nelson Hospital’s A&E.
It will offer extended business hours for people to call in, but the centre is also likely to have its own medical patients who would prefer the convenience of a doctor onsite.
While there are a few spaces yet to be tenanted, Peter is confident that they will be filled before or soon after the official opening of the Collingwood Centre, planned for June this year. The syndicate is hopeful that Medlab will be one of those taking up space on the ground floor. But even as the group stands now, the advantage to Nelsonians having access to a state-of-the-art specialist medical centre in town cannot be disputed.
