Alexandra's new "one-stop-shop" medical centre should be completed before the end of this year.
An application will be made soon for resource consent to alter a building on Tarbert St which will be the new base for the three existing medical centres in the town.
"All is on track for the project and we hope work will start soon," one of the owners of the building, Central Otago Mayor Malcolm Macpherson, said.
The building is owned by Medco Ltd, which is a partnership between seven people, all of whom have links to the town's existing medical practices - Central Medical Centre, Cornerstone Health and Centennial Health.
Dr Macpherson said the venture was not a merger of the practices - they would continue to operate as either two or three separate medical centres.
"There could be some savings by having them all under one roof, but this isn't about saving money - it's about working better in the interests of the patients."
Staff numbers were likely to increase rather than decrease, he said.
The former PGG Wrightson building will be extensively modified inside and there will be some extensions.
"It will be set up as a dedicated, modern medical centre."
The idea of a purpose-built facility to house all the town's medical practices was first mooted almost a decade ago.
One of the stumbling blocks for the project initially was that it appeared to breach the anti-competition laws under the Commerce Act.
If all the existing practices in the town merged, it was deemed to be a monopoly, which was seen as anti-competition.
"That's the law of the land but it was one of the early barriers to the plans proceeding.
"So now the practices will stay separate although there will be some shared services," Dr Macpherson said.
The Alexandra doctors shared after-hours duties.
The plans for the building include consulting rooms and space for outpatient clinics, Otago medical school trainees on work experience and other primary health providers.
There was also room for a small pharmacy and the potential for physiotherapy and optometry services, Dr Macpherson said.
