Physician assistant staffing in a rural New Zealand hospital

Uptake of the physician assistant role has been slow in Australia and New Zealand despite the completion and positive evaluation of several pilot projects. Delays have resulted from “slow” governmental action as well as absence of “models” that can be readily adopted by health care delivery systems. This paper describes the successful model of PA emergency department utilisation in the small rural hospital in Gore on New Zealand’s South Island. The town of Gore is 64 kilometres northeast of Invercargill and 70 km west of Balclutha – Dunedin. Gore is a service town for the surrounding farm communities. Operated by Gore Health, the Gore Hospital provides a broad range of services. A busy 24-hour emergency room is a key feature of Gore Hospital which has often relied on locum tenens doctors for staffing. Gore’s location on New Zealand’s South Island is shown below.