About us

Providing medical care for families since 1970

Te Awamutu Medical Centre has been providing medical care for
Te Awamutu families since 1970.

At the practice, we have 14 GPs and 12 practice nurses. We also have visiting specialists and other healthcare professionals regularly on-site, so we can deliver comprehensive medical services to you.

As an accredited Teaching Practice with the Royal New Zealand College for General Practitioners, we will often have medical registrars on-site undergoing GP training. All registrars are fully supervised by one of our fully qualified teaching GPs.

We are Cornerstone Accredited (since 2006), the highest level of accreditation awarded by the Royal NZ College of General Practitioners.

Your general practitioners

Partner GPs

Dr Mary Ballantyne

MBBS (Lond) DipObs (Auck) FRNZCGP

Mary was born in the United Kingdom, and did her training there as well. She has been a GP in Te Awamutu since 1981.

Mary has a special interest in women’s health. She is a member of the Australasian Menopause Society and runs a GP Gynaecology Clinic at Waikato Hospital.

In her spare time Mary enjoys tramping and travel and spending time with family and friends.
Dr Henk Kroesbergen

Medical Practitioner (2004, Nijmegen, Netherlands)

Henk graduated from Nijmegen in 2004 and worked in a number of hospitals, and as a GP, in the Netherlands until 2011. He joined Te Awamutu Medical Centre that year as a locum after moving to New Zealand with his wife and children, and is now a permanent GP here. He has a keen interest in fishing.
Dr Ernst Buhrs

Ernst has been a GP in Liverpool, UK for over 20 years. He moved to NZ with his family in 2018 and is enjoying life in the Waipa. He is a trained acupuncturist and is interested in Eastern philosophies and Tai Chi.
Dr Alison Glover

BSc, MBCHB, DRCOG, MSc, FRNZCGP

Alison is a Scottish/English graduate, completing her medical degree in 1988 and moving to New Zealand in 1995.

Alison is married with two teenage daughters. Before starting her family she travelled widely, and opened the Waikato Sport and Exercise Medicine Clinic in Hamilton.

After spending a number of years at home with her children, in 2010 she renewed her GP qualifications prior to purchasing her practice. Alison’s strong interest in sport continues and now involves the whole family.
Dr Paul Kennedy

MBBS (Lond), DRCOG (UK), FRNZCGP, MRCS Eng LRCP (Lond), MRCGP

Paul qualified in London and has been working as a GP in Te Awamutu since 1991.

Paul has an interest in sports medicine and GP training. He has completed his diploma in sports medicine and works with Te Awamutu Sports Rugby Club and Waikato ITM teams. He also has GP registrars – doctors doing some General Practitioner training – attached to his practice on a six-monthly basis.
Dr Jo Vipond

MBBS (Lond), FRNZCGP, PG Dip OMG (Otago)

Jo did her training in London and moved to New Zealand in 2005. After she arrived, she worked in hospitals throughout New Zealand. In 2009 she completed her GP training in Christchurch. Jo enjoys all areas of General Practice, but has a particular interest in women’s health.
Dr Katie Reid

Katie was born in Plymouth, UK, and grew up just outside London. After training as a GP, she worked around East London & Essex and then moved to New Zealand in 2013. Katie worked in various specialties at Waikato Hospital before moving into general practice. She and her husband live in the Waipa with their dog and an ever increasing number of chickens. Outside of work, Katie loves being on the beach and tending her vege garden.

Staff GPs

Dr Amanda Henderson

Amanda is UK trained and became a member of the Royal College of GPs (UK) in 2002. She has been a staff doctor at TAMC since 2014, and loves living in the Waipa.
Dr Ruba Harfeil

MBCHB (Jordan), PGDip Paediatrics Auckland University

Ruba is originally from Jerusalem/Palestine, and studied at medical school in Jordan. She worked in general practice in a Palestinian refugee camp medical centre in Jordan for nearly three years before moving with her husband to New Zealand in early 2013, deciding to make NZ their new home. Ruba worked at Waikato hospital for three years in different departments, then moved into general practice in 2021. Ruba has completed a post graduate diploma in paediatric medicine, and is currently doing a post graduate diploma in clinical education. Ruba has two girls and a boy; all are full of energy and fun! Outside of work, she likes horse riding and writing poems.
Dr Danny van Erkel

Danny trained in the Netherlands and has worked in Rotterdam and rural Africa before moving to NZ with his young family in June 2024.
As a GP, Danny has special interests in emergency medicine, internal medicine, and dermatology.
Danny is a keen cyclist and dedicated football fan and enjoys adventuring with his family.
Dr Krishna Chatterjee

MB ChB Manchester, BSc Medicine St Andrews, MRCGP Manchester, FRNZCGP, MUCCNZ, MIHS

Krishna is a Fellow of the RNZCGP, and is a Member of the Urgent Care College of NZ working toward his fellowship in urgent care. He has a special interest in headaches and is a Member of the International Headache Society. Krishna works at TAMC part time, mostly on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Dr Ayesha Haque

General Practitioner

Ayesha has Indian roots and grew up in the middle east. She finished her medical training in London and after exploring several countries across the world fell in love with NZ and settled down.
Ayesha worked across various specialties at Waikato hospital before finding her passion in General Practice. Her special interests include preventative medicine, women's and children's health.

As a busy working mum, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She loves travel, food, music and exploring her artistic skills.
Dr Hemisha Patel
Nuno Costa

Physician Associate PA-C

My name is Nuno Costa. I’m originally from Portugal but I just arrived in NZ from the UK where I completed my master’s degree in Physician Associate studies.
After I graduated, I worked in Acute Medicine for 1.5 years however for the last 3.5 years I’ve been working as a PA in a busy Emergency Department in England. Before working as a Physician Associate, I was an Emergency Manager in Portugal, a Paramedic in the USA, and an Emergency Medical Technician in Canada. I also did volunteer work as a firefighter in Portugal and in the USA and some medical volunteer work in Africa.
I have a special interest in Emergency Medicine.
Rachel Bell

Clinical Pharmacist

Rachel was born and raised in the Waikato, and completed her Bachelor of Pharmacy at the University of Auckland. She has worked in a variety of community based pharmacy roles, has completed a postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Pharmacy and is a member of the Clinical Advisory Pharmacists Association. Rachel is planning to study to become a pharmacist prescriber in the near future. She lives locally with her husband and their two young boys.
Outside of work, Rachel and her family love exploring parks and the beach.
Fiona Wing

Nurse Practitioner

Fiona has returned to Te Awamutu after eight years with Mangakino Health Services where she trained as a Nurse Practitioner. She has amassed significant knowledge and practical application as a dedicated nurse over 24 years.
Fiona’s specialty is long term health conditions, helping people live their healthiest lives with a full understanding of their health. She is passionate about patients accessing all services they are eligible for. As a lead health care provider, patients have the opportunity to enrol with Fiona at Te Awamutu Medical Centre.
A Nurse Practitioner is a highly qualified healthcare professional dedicated to providing advanced and comprehensive care. Nurse Practitioners are trained to diagnose, prescribe, treat and manage a variety of health conditions collaborating closely with our medical team to ensure the best possible outcomes for our patients.
Michaela Buhrs

Registered Midwife, Registered Nurse

Michaela trained as a Registered Midwife and Nurse in the UK. Arriving in NZ in 2018, she worked at Te Whatu Ora Waikato initially as a Core Midwife then a Clinical Midwife Specialist with the Child Protection team. This experience evidenced barriers women encounter accessing local fertility choices, and unplanned children in poverty and neglect who can later experience mental health issues. Michaela wanted to do something about this complex issue.
Michaela is on path to being a Nurse Practitioner with intentions of setting up a drop-in, open access sexual health clinic with LARCs (long-acting reversible contraceptives) for rural areas.