A HOLBROOK doctor who won the widespread support of residents despite stringent conditions on his medical licence will soon be working in Albury.
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Dr Arunachalam Lakshmanan, 74, has worked at Holbrook for 43 years — much of it as the town’s only doctor — and yesterday said he would soon move to an Albury group practice as he prepared for retirement.
His announcement came as Holbrook prepared to celebrate Dr Lakshmanan’s contribution to the town on Australia Day, with a lunch in his honour.
Dr Lakshmanan was visiting medical officer at Holbrook Hospital until August 2013, when he stopped working there while retaining his private practice.
Neither he nor the hospital operator, Murrumbidgee Local Health District would comment but, by October, the NSW medical board had placed stringent conditions on his licence and they are still in place.
They included working in a practice with other doctors, not seeing more than 80 patients a week, not practising more than four days a week and not practising more than five hours a day.
Holbrook residents backed their doctor, circulating petitions to have him reinstated at the hospital.
While still reluctant to comment yesterday, Dr Lakshmanan said the restrictions were the result of something that “could have been handled very differently”.
He believed the restrictions would be lifted this year and, regardless, he could practise in Albury.
Dr Lakshmanan will work in Albury and not retire until the other doctor at his practice, Dr Aamir Riaz, gets to know the Holbrook community.
“I grew with that community and I don’t want to go,” he said.
“I will be back in Holbrook one day and I’ll continue all my community efforts there while I am away.
“They have always been very supportive of me — from day one, they believed in me and I believe in them.”
Dr Lakshmanan, a past Order of Australia medal recipient, said he was “humbled” by the Australia Day brunch in his honour. It is being hosted by the Holbrook Lions Club, of which he has been a member for 35 years.
He has been involved in many health and community projects and the Kala Court retirement units were named for his late wife.
Lions treasurer Gail Chynoweth said Dr Lakshmanan had given back to the town in ways he didn’t have to and had a genuine affection for the people of Holbrook.
“Lakshi has given his all to this town, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” she said.
“He’s stood the test of time and we’ve stood by him. What better way to celebrate that than on Australia Day?”
