Emotions are mixed in Twizel as a public meeting is called to push for the board of High Country Health (HCH) to resign following the termination of a GP's contract.
GP Tim Gardner's last day was Thursday and he is the third GP to leave the Twizel Medical Centre in about two years.
One GP, Dr Crystal Pyrak, was leaving to go to a five-year contract in the US and another, Dr Annie Fyfe, left the centre two years ago.
Spokeswoman for recently formed collective Twizel Community Health Group Eleanor Harris-Brouwer said a public petition calling for the board to resign gathered about 800 signatures and was presented to HCH chairman Simon Williamson last Wednesday.
Mrs Harris-Brouwer said the next step was to hold a public meeting to get action that she hoped would see Dr Gardner return with a possible place on a new board.
The public meeting would be held on November 12 at 11am at the Twizel Community Care Centre.
She described feelings among residents of the township about the Twizel Medical Centre as "angry'' and "distressed''.
"A lot of people are really angry. The elderly are really upset about it. They don't want one locum after another.''
She believed Dr Gardner's contract was terminated because of a personality clash he had with the clinic's general manager, and his questioning of directives.
Mr Williamson rejected Mrs Harris-Brouwer's statements and said the board was not going to resign.
He questioned the validity of the petition, believing some names were doubled up.
He said he was not in a position to address many of Mrs Harris-Brouwer's concerns, given he and the board were bound by a legal agreement reached between Dr Gardner and themselves.
"We stand behind the decision we made and our job is to run the medical centre.''
Dr Gardner said he was not in a position to talk when contacted by the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
"I'm making a decision I'm not happy about making. It is what it is.''
Community newsletter Twizel Update editor David Compton said the coffee shop banter theme in Twizel was overwhelmingly one of "these people should get over it''.
Mr Compton said the majority of the town's people were ready to move on. He said Dr Gardner's vocal supporters were predominantly older people or patients who had been with him for a long time.
"These people feel he has been maligned or done a raw deal when in fact that might not be the case. I think the loyalty is blind''.
Dr Gardner's support group did expect him to return to Twizel, but they had to understand how many legally binding contracts would be broken, such as his new one with the Kurow Medical Centre, Mr Compton noted.
He said, 12 months ago, many of those on the HCH board were responsible for securing funding for the centre and were hailed as heroes, so he found it questionable that 12 months on from such an event they could be accused of being incompetent in their handling of Dr Gardner.
South Canterbury District Health Board spokeswoman Ruth Kibble said the DHB was committed to ensuring Twizel had continued access to a primary care service and asked the board to share its plan for service continuity to meet its contractual obligations.
Mackenzie Mayor Graham Smith said the medical centre was not a council issue. However, the council would be concerned if access to care was compromised.
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Mr Compton, as editor of the local community newspaper, should at least be reading the many letters to that paper, rather than listen to the "coffee shop gossip" going around in his circle of friends. I note he has accidentally forgotten to declare how his brother in law is actually on the Board of Directors, and that conflict of interest certainly wouldn't have any bearing on his attempts to play down the community's concern, would it?
With about 4 days notice, Twizel residents collected around 800 signatures on the petition. It's not a passing fad, it's not just a few people, and it's not going to just go away.