Century-old doctors’ association on brink of collapse
The New Zealand Medical Association has struggled to increase its lowly membership in the face of COVID-19 and competition from new medical groups, it says
The New Zealand Medical Association is facing closure after 136 years, thanks to dire membership figures exacerbated by COVID-19 and new, competing medical organisations.
The association’s board has unanimously recommended that members vote to place it into liquidation after receiving a report outlining its “dire and urgent” financial situation.
With just 5000 members — less than 10% of the country’s medical workforce — and with only 25% paying full fees, the report bluntly states that it does not have the funds to continue operating.
“In recent years, we have been part of an expanding number of organisations in this area,” New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA) board chair Dr Alistair Humphrey said in a statement last Friday.
