Three Rivers gets a new part-owner
3rd July 2024 | Back to News
Dr Coll Campbell (right) has joined his former college mentor Dr Fergus Aitcheson as a part-owner of Three Rivers Medical.
Three Rivers Medical has welcomed Dr Coll Campbell as a new part-owner of the practice.
“Becoming an owner gives me more of a say in the future provision of primary care in our region, so that was very appealing.”
Gisborne born and bred, Campbell said it was always his plan to come back to Gisborne to practise medicine.
He has been a GP at Three Rivers for three years and recently bought a shareholding in the business.
“I am all too well aware of the high needs of our population so to have a role in improving health outcomes here is a special privilege for me,” Campbell said.
He joins founding GP partners Fergus Aitcheson, Tom James and Simon Spenceley, and Dr Hiria Nielson — who bought into the business in 2021, the same year Ingrid Collins retired.
“Along the way, I’ve been blessed to have excellent mentors and friends who have shown me that there’s more to being a GP than just the medical side of things.
“There’s the community and public health aspects; there’s the social and wairua aspects as well.”
Campbell has a long relationship with Aitcheson, who was one of his college mentors.
“We always had a good mentor— mentee relationship and struck up a friendship,” he said.
“Throughout my training, Fergus always talked to me about what owning a GP practice looks like and encouraged me to think about it in future.”
Aitcheson said they were delighted to welcome Campbell on board.
“Way back when he was a resident medical officer at the hospital, we encouraged him to consider general practice as a career.
“I’m delighted that a relatively young man is taking over a really important role.
“Directing primary care services for a high-needs population of more than 20,000 people is a big job and to know it will remain in good hands is heartening.”
Aitcheson always thought Campbell had the qualities needed to make a good owner.
“He’s very calm, very thoughtful, very thorough in his clinical work; very caring and concerned when he is dealing with patients.
“He’s also quite forthright and has the ability to call a spade a spade,” he said.
This was also part of long-term succession planning to future-proof Three Rivers Medical.
“We’ll be looking to slowly taper out of the business over the next several years as we continue to mentor Coll and Hiria and potentially other new owners into ownership roles.”
Campbell comes on board as an owner when there are concerns about the shortage of GPs and nurses and ongoing funding restraints.
But he is committed to maintaining the high standard of primary care delivered by the team at Three Rivers.
The managerial duties that come with being a new owner are something Campbell will learn on the job with the assistance of the other owners.
“It’s a big step up,” Aitcheson says.
“We see Coll and Dr Hiria Nielsen, both who have really deep roots in this community, as the nucleus of the ownership group going forwards.”