07-873 7079
GET TO KNOW OUR
GENERAL PRACTITIONERS
The ÅŒtorohanga Medical Centre team of certified, highly skilled, and experienced care providers always has our patients’ best interests and wellbeing at heart. Meet the faces that are running our Medical Centre, and schedule an appointment today.
Meet The Directors
DR JO ANN FRANCISCO
Jo Ann is one of the three medical centre owners. Jo Ann moved to New Zealand from Florida. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine who completed her Family Medicine Residency training in Ohio. She has special interests in Women's Health, Sports Medicine and Geriatrics. She is also the Beattie Home Physician. Jo Ann started working in Levin in 2012 and then moved to ÅŒtorohanga in 2014.She enjoys the friendly ÅŒtorohanga community and the New Zealand outdoors.
DR RUSS FERNANDEZ
Russ is one of the three medical centre owners. Russ graduated in India in 1991 before doing more training in Ireland. His fellowship in General Surgery was completed in Scotland. He trained in ear, nose and throat surgery for five years, then General Medicine and Paediatrics. He started a private practice in Ireland in 2006 and has also trained in cosmetic medicine and dermatology.
DR JOYCE WONG
Joyce is one of the three medical centre owners. She graduated from the University of Auckland School of Medicine in 2003. After working in hospitals in Hamilton, Invercargill and Rotorua for five years, she moved to ÅŒtorohanga to try rural medicine in 2008 and has never left. Joyce has a Diploma in Child Health. She lives in ÅŒtorohanga with her husband Dave and their two children.
Meet The General Practitioners
DR MICHAEL BECKER
Michael was born in Cape Town and studied medicine at the University of Cape Town. He has studied and worked in London, San Diego, Cape Town and the Sunshine Coast.
He moved to Hamilton in 1996 and worked at Waikato Hospital and Medlab Hamilton.
His professional interests include GP work and Allergies.
Michael is married to Michelle from Elstow, near Te Aroha. They have four children and live in the hills near Raglan.
Michael's hobbies mostly involve working his property and maintaining his house, beekeeping, drinking wine and playing with his dogs.
DR BHANU SIVAKUMAR
Bhanu studied medicine in India and is a qualified general and specialist Anaesthetist with twenty years' experience, including in accident and emergency. She worked in public and private hospitals in India and overseas during this time. She also worked part time in general practice in India for 10 years.
After completing the Australian and New Zealand medical council registration examinations, she joined ÅŒtorohanga Medical Centre Ltd as a GP in 2013. She is a specialist General Practitioner having completed her fellowship in General Practice with the Royal College of General Practitioners.
Her special interests as a GP lie in mental health and practising an inclusive approach to medicine and teaching. She is currently doing a course in life- style medicine with the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine.
Bhanu lives with her husband in Auckland. She has one daughter who is an academic who lives with her family in the USA. Her hobbies are reading, music, watching movies, painting, travelling and walking in the great outdoors.
ONLY available for virtual video or phone consults.
DR PETER TRIBE
My name is Peter Tribe, I graduated in medicine at Melbourne University then worked in Public Health in Monash University & practiced in an outer Melbourne general practice for 28 years. I came to NZ in 2006 with my wife, Katherine (PhD in Agricultural Science), researcher at AgResearch. Since then I have been in rural NZ general practice for 18 years. I love tramping, gardening and sometimes play guitar in the church band.
DR HANSIE WONG
Dr Hansie Wong is a Family Practice Physician from the US. She specializes in Integrative Medicine, recognizing the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual connections in health and life. She draws upon nutrition, movement, acupuncture, healing touch, guided imagery, osteopathy, supplements, as well as medications to come up with a holistic treatment plan. You may remember her when she worked at ÅŒtorohanga Medical Centre from 2010-2013.
DR JOSH COULTER
Kia Ora, I am a Rural Hospital Medicine advanced trainee. ÅŒtorohanga Medical Centre is a special place to me as I was here as a medical student many years ago. I have recently moved to the Waikato from Auckland with my wife and three children and we look forward to getting to know the ÅŒtorohanga community.
I truly believe that in treating the person and not merely the disease, greater success will be achieved. I will always do my best to help you in your health journey. My specialty interests are acute/emergency presentations, respiratory medicine, obstetric medicine and paediatrics.
In my spare time I enjoy river fly fishing and love to watch movies, as I am a bit of a film buff. I hope to build a therapeutic relationship with you over 2025/26 and am eager to help you in these difficult times we live in.
DR FRASER HODGSON
Soon to be added...