At an age when many would have long checked out of the office and on to the lawn bowls rink, Dr Ragupathy (78) is finally and reluctantly retiring.
"People needed my help, my service, particularly people doing it tough," Dr Ragupathy, who has run the low-cost practice Community Support Medical Centre for 27 years, said.
"We developed the practice slowly, we had a lot of casual patients to start with, but now only enrolled patients are with us ... we had minimal staff and I was here most of the time."
Dr Ragupathy trained in Sri Lanka and also worked in Nigeria before coming to New Zealand in the 1980s.
After stints in Northland and Auckland Hospitals, he shifted south to Dunedin and went in to general practice.
"I wanted to settle in one place and educate my children and develop a practice."
The patients cared for by Dr Ragupathy, and the locum who has recently been assisting him, will not need to go far for their future medical needs — the centre is relocating to Dunedin City GPs in Pitt St, about 200m from Community Support Medical Centre’s George St base.
While he will miss his patients, one thing that Dr Ragupathy will not miss is the bane of many GPs’ lives — paperwork.
"It is too much and I have really tried to manage it by keeping aside a few hours after consultations to stay on top of it."
Dunedin has been a happy home for Dr Ragupathy, but his retirement will bring with it a move to Sydney to be close to grandchildren.
"I have worked more than 50 years as a doctor, that is enough," he said.
"But I am humbled at the privilege of being the lead GP for such a diverse patient group."
