Tauranga Hospital

The ACHD service at Tauranga Hospital is run by cardiologist, Dr Graeme Porter assisted by nurse practitioner Rachel Hall. Graeme sees ACHD patients in his cardiology clinics and also runs a joint adolescent transition clinic with paediatrician Dr Josh Agnew and cardiologist Dr Tim Hornung from Auckland. The Tauranga Paediatric Department also runs a transition service that may be helpful for some adolescents moving from the paediatric to the adult service.

Rachel is a first point of contact for ACHD patients and is also a source of expert information and advice on subjects such as pregnancy and contraception.

If Dr Porter is away, then the other Tauranga cardiologists will be contacted, or alternatively the ACHD team in Auckland may be contacted.

The cardiology department at Tauranga Hospital has excellent echo sonographers who are experienced scanning ACHD patients. Other tests like holter monitors, exercise tests and CT scans can also be done in Tauranga . Patients needing cardiac MRI and congenital heart catheters will travel to Auckland for these tests.