Welcome Dr Warren Hargreaves To Griffith Base Hospital

Dr Warren Hargreaves, General Surgeon, thinks city people are missing out.

He and his wife, Melita, a practising dentist, swapped their busy Sydney lives for a little piece of Italy in the heart of the Riverina.

“I am very happy with Griffith and the Base Hospital,” Dr Hargreaves said.

“It is a great place to live and work, the staff are excellent, everyone has been very welcoming and keen to show us around.

“I would like to see more medical professionals come and just try it, because you do not really understand how good it is until you do.

“I suspect once they come, they will not want to leave.

“It is a big change of scenery and lifestyle, less hassles, less time commuting, more opportunity to enjoy the house, maintain a yard.

“I think that I have been to Bunnings 100 times since I’ve been here.”

Dr Hargreaves is a surgical oncology specialist, an expert in the removal of soft tissue tumours, in particular sarcoma, breast and skin tumours.

He is involved in teaching medical students and graduate doctors in Australia, New Zealand, and Myanmar and has also spent time practising in London.

“Surgery is a team activity, you cannot do it alone.

“I like being part of the professional team in a hospital, and we have a great group of people working here.

Dr Hargreaves said that he couldn’t pinpoint one thing that caused him to relocate, but rather a lot of little things.

One of the most important draw cards for Dr Hargreaves was the development of the new Griffith Base Hospital.

“I am most excited about the development of the hospital and the input I can offer,” Dr Hargreaves said.

As the Clinical Director of General Surgery for Griffith Base Hospital, Dr Hargreaves hopes to see the hospital renowned for providing not only exceptional care but a destination of choice for health professionals seeking to relocate to regional areas.

“I want to see services expand, to be strengthened,” Dr Hargreaves said.

“People will be surprised when it’s all done and they see how good it is.”

Despite warnings about missing the beach and opera, Dr Hargreaves and his wife feel that Griffith has everything they need to settle comfortably in their new home.

“I can now walk to work and it only takes a few minutes.

“Strangely enough I have found I love to garden and mow the lawn. An accomplished and competitive canoe sportsman, Dr Hargreaves is also looking forward to paddling on the river.

“I enjoy ocean canoe racing, dragon boat racing and am in the NSW team for dragon boat racing.

“The national championships are running in Albury this year, so I am just swapping the ocean for the river to keep training.”

Dr Hargreaves sees the Riverina as an untapped resource of talent and opportunity.

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• Health & Wellbeing