Tauranga Family Health Doctors
Meet some of your Tauranga doctors
Your family doctor is your healthcare partner. At CentralMed Health, your family doctor will provide you with all the day-to-day advice, information and support you expect from your GP, and at CentralMed Health, your doctor can also draw on a large team of doctors, each with specialist family medicine interests.
We also have a great team of complementary health professionals: Nurses, Physiotherapists, Radiologists, Pharmacists, and a skilled medical laboratory team. We all share your interest in shaping a healthy future, and managing any health issues you have.
Dr Iona Bailey
MBChB (Aberdeen Scotland), FRNZCGP, Post Grad Cert GP (Travel Medicine)
Iona has more than 22 years experience in General Practice since she trained in Scotland. Her special family health interests include Travel Medicine, Women’s Health and Adolescent Health. A past member of DSAC (Doctors for Sexual Abuse Care), Iona is on the Bay of Plenty Roster for examination of Child Sexual Abuse Victims. She is also an ACC Independence Allowance Assessor. Iona spends her free time kayaking, tramping and skiing, and enjoying music and theatre.
Dr Tracy Ball
Dr Séan Barklie
BSc MBChB (UCT), Dip Sports Med (NZSF)
Sean trained in marine biology before studying medicine at the University of Cape Town. He emigrated to New Zealand after practising in the UK, Canada and South Africa. Sean has a specialist interest in sports medicine in which he is currently doing a masters degree through the University of New South Wales. After hours, Sean and his family enjoy the Tauranga outdoor lifestyle to the max!
Dr Andrew Corin
MBChB, FRNZCGP, BSc Dip Paeds, (Designated Dive Doctor)
Andrew, a New Zealand-trained GP, has been working in Tauranga since 1995. He completed his Fellowship for the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners in 2001, and is actively involved with the Tauranga Asthma Society and the Prime Health Trust for Community Development. Special interest areas include child health, dive medicine, asthma, and minor surgery including specialist surgery to alleviate snoring called Snore-Op. Outside of work hours you will find Andrew playing golf, growing avocado trees, kayaking and training his boxer dogs.
Dr Morné du Plessis
MBChB
Morné completed his medical degree in South Africa before moving to New Zealand in 1997. He worked initially as a registrar doing mainly surgery and orthopaedics at Whakatane and Tauranga Hospitals. He then worked in family medicine for Te Manu Toroa, providing primary healthcare for Maori in the Bay of Plenty. Morné’s special interests are surgery, orthopaedics and sports medicine and injuries. As a keen sportsman, enjoying anything from snowboarding to rugby or soccer, he brings his personal experience of the pains and sprains associated with sport to his work in CentralMed Health’s Accident and Medical department.
Dr Karin Hall
Dr Colin Helm
MBChB, BSc, DipPaeds, DipObs, MRNZCGP, (Designated Dive Doctor)
Colin completed his original degrees in General Medicine, General Surgery and immunology at Glasgow University in Scotland. He has also trained in Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Auckland Medical School, and has completed the Diploma in Hyperbaric Medicine with the New Zealand Navy. He left Scotland to work in Borneo and Thailand in the field of Tropical Medicine, then worked in Australia in Cardiology, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine. Colin worked at Tauranga Hospital in Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology before entering general practice. He has dual training through the New Zealand and United Kingdom Colleges of General Practice. Colin has broad experience in all aspects of general practice, with special interest in paediatrics, men’s health, preventive medicine, dive medicine and minor surgery. He is qualified to perform Occupational and Recreational Diving Medicals.
Colin and his family are involved in scuba diving, fishing, water skiing and photography.
Dr Santi Lala
MBChB, FRNZCGP, DipObs
Santi was born in Te Aroha (Waikato) and trained at Otago Medical School. She has been in General Practice for over 19 years and enjoys seeing the babies she delivered now leaving school. Her special medical interests include women and children’s health. Santi is currently studying for a Post Graduate Diploma in Herbal Medicine to increase her ability to work with this for patients who request it. Her experience includes working in Nepal at a high altitude clinic near Everest Base Camp (1988) and working as a Ski Field Doctor on Turoa and Whakapapa. Santi and her family are keen on outdoors activities, particularly tramping, skiing, swimming and kayaking.
Dr Neil BJ Matson
B Sc MBChB (Otago), DipObs (Otago), DipSportMed (Auck), FRNZCGP
Neil has been in general practice in Tauranga since December 1981. He has a longstanding interest in sports and musculoskeletal medicine. This has seen Neil involved in team doctoring for Tauranga Sports Rugby, and occasionally for the BOP rugby team, over the last ten years. A long time chairman of Baycare Medical Services and secretary of the BOP Division of NZMA, Neil was a GP Registrar trainer for the Royal New Zealand College of General Practice in early/mid 1990s, has been a Fellow of the College since 1998. Neil was President of the Rotary Club of Tauranga Sunrise for the 2002/03 year. Neil has been involved in marathon clinic, recreational triathlons and touch rugby in the past, and now stays fit with some slow jogging.
Dr David J O’Connor
MBChB, FRNZCGP
David has been practising as Family General Practitioner in Tauranga since 1984. His interests outside of family practice include running a small farm, and a wide variety of sports and outdoor activities including jogging, cycling, triathlon, golf, motor sport and following family sporting endeavours. He has a keen interest in developing Catholic secondary education in Tauranga and has been involved with the establishment of Aquinas College in Pyes Pa. David plays social touch rugby in Tauranga.
