Queenstown readies for round two of COVID-19

Queenstown Medical Centre is readying itself for the return of tourists to the area – and COVID-19.

“Obviously I don’t think it’s an ‘if’, it’s a ‘when’,” chief executive Ashley Light told New Zealand Doctor Rata Aotearoa late last month, as school holidays and the Auckland border opening loomed.

In readiness, a “motivated local population” has embraced COVID-19 vaccination: Queenstown-Lakes District had the second-highest vaccination rate among towns and cities, with 94.1 per cent double-dosed, Mr Light said.

The centre last year put up triage tents in its car parks, but it now has brought rented portacabins and portaloos on site for providing upper respiratory tract infection or COVID care outside the main building.

Efforts to stop COVID-19 spreading quickly when it arrives, while maintaining services as “business as usual”, are adding extra costs for the centre.

“That’s probably not being acknowledged by some of the partners in the effort to keep COVID cases low,” says Mr Light. “We are supporting a public health effort, but it seems to be landing more and more on primary care.”

Earlier this year, New Zealand Doctor reported that the peaks and troughs faced by the tourism sector had led to higher health demand and more enrolled patients for the centre’s general practice arm.

Remaining migrant workers had their visas rolled over, making more people eligible to enrol. The pandemic also pushed up demand for mental health care.

At the same time, with lower tourist numbers, the centre’s urgent-care arm reduced its hours, experiencing at least a 30 per cent fall in consultations, Mr Light says. He hopes those will rise a bit.

Over the coming year, he would like to see general practice shift away from “coping with COVID” to focusing on communities’ other needs.

“One thing really coming through to the fore is the mental health issues. While it may not be a pandemic, it’s certainly going to be an epidemic we’re seeing in our region,” he says.