About us

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 regularly have visiting specialists and other healthcare professionals on-site, so we can deliver comprehensive medical services to you.

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

We are Cornerstone Accredited, which is 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.

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.

Tiffany Hodgson PA-C

BHSC (USA) MSPAS (USA)

Tiffany is a physician associate from Alaska who relocated to New Zealand in 2010 after completing her medical training at Loma Linda University, California. She worked in Hamilton until 2015 when she transferred to Te Awamutu Medical Centre. She loves living in the Waipa with her husband and two girls. She has special interests in wilderness medicine, children’s health, dermatology and whole-person care. Tiffany holds a Bachelor degree in Health Science, a Masters degree in Physician Assistant Studies and is board certified through the NCCPA in the United States.

Jackie Sartorius PA-C

BSc, M Ed, MPAS

Jackie moved from Lake Tahoe, California to NZ with her husband in December 2018. She has visited NZ in the past was thrilled at the opportunity to live and work here. In America she spent two years working in geriatrics and internal medicine, and three years in family medicine. Jackie holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Biology from the University of Newcastle, NSW, a Master’s in Education from University of California Santa Barbara, and Master’s in Physician Assistant Studies from Idaho State University. She is nationally board certified through the NCCPA in the United States.

Dr Ronan Smyth

Ronan is a Registrar for both the Royal New Zealand College of GPs and the Royal New Zealand College of Urgent Care. He is from Ireland and has worked here in the Waikato for the last 4 years. He is married and lives in Hamilton with his wife. In his spare time he enjoys all things outdoors such as cycling, swimming, surfing, tramping.

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.

Dr Frances Stringfellow

Frances was born in the UK and emigrated to New Zealand in 2004. She completed her medical degree at University of Otago in 2014, then worked for 4 years in Tauranga Hospital, including 2 years as an Orthopaedic Registrar before arriving at TAMC in 2019. Frances is currently working towards her GP fellowship. She has a strong interest in sports/musculoskeletal medicine. Outside of work she is a keen long distance runner and has completed several marathons.

Dr Rita MIddleton

Qualified since the 1970s, Rita was a GP in Canada and the US before coming to NZ and practising for many years in Masterton. She now lives in Kihikihi and is enjoying her part time role on the TAMC team.

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. 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 Fridays.

Bridget Richards, NP

Reg Nurse, Nurse Practitioner

Bridget has been nursing for 35 years in the UK and in NZ, and was registered as a Nurse Practitioner in 2016. She is currently Chair of the College of Gerontology Nursing for the NZ Nurses Organisation. She has lived in Te Awamutu for 14 years, raising her family, learning hydroponic growing, and knitting for her grandkids.