But it's time for the well-loved doctor, who came to Australia as a refugee in 1969, to put his feet up.

"I was born Czechoslovakian, came to Australia through Sydney and was sent to Bonegilla," Dr Poupa said.

"I got a job at Albury base and passed the exams.

"We were doing everything from anesthetics to small surgeries, but that was gradually taken out.

"I joined another practice not far from here in 1971 and then went to Mate Street Medical."

Dr Poupa, who also had visiting rights at Mercy Palliative Care, was a stalwart of the clinic when Helen Barter started working there in 2011.

When another principal doctor retired due to illness in 2015, she made a promise with him to keep it going.

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"It wasn't viable with just one doctor, so I went and did my nurse practitioner qualifications and have owned and operated it since that since," Ms Barter said.

"I promised to get Jiri to 80, and he turned 80 on March 1.

"He said he would keep working until his registration ran out - these old-school doctors take the Hippocratic oath and their life is medicine."

It's also time for Ms Barter to hand over the reins, with Indigo Family Medical Centre growing.

"Our doctor Leigh Bennie has seen that as an opportunity to run with it and make it his business," Ms Barter said.

"He'll be recruiting another doctor and building on his specialty in skin cancer.

"It's been really good for the community with Jiri - because he speaks a bit of Yugoslav, Czech and also Russian, a lot of the Eastern Europeans who migrated to Bonegilla followed him here."

With his registration officially running out on September 30, Dr Poupa has decided to kick-start his retirement and has already set off on a holiday.

"I'll take it very easy to start with and then do some small trips around Australia," he said.

"To my patients, thanks very much for your loyalty."