Rhonda Moriarty-Patten

Rhonda Moriarty-Patten is the Clinic Coordinator at CareVets Gisborne and has been part of the clinic since 2021. Before moving to Gisborne, she worked in corporate roles in Auckland and London — big cities, long commutes, and high-pressure environments — before deliberately choosing a different pace of life.

One of the first differences she noticed was how much everyday friction disappeared.

“I used to commute an hour and a half each way. Now it’s about five minutes.”

That shift matters. For Rhonda, the shorter commute isn’t just about convenience — it changes how the day starts and ends, how much energy people bring to work, and how sustainable life feels over time.

In the clinic, Rhonda sits at the centre of day-to-day coordination. She helps keep communication flowing between vets, nurses, and reception, and supports the team when the day gets busy or unpredictable. Her focus is on making sure small issues are addressed early, before they become bigger ones.

She talks openly about the importance of people feeling comfortable speaking up — whether that’s about workload, communication, or something that’s not working. For Rhonda, smooth operations depend less on rigid systems and more on people being heard.

Having worked in large corporate environments, she’s clear-eyed about the difference. What she values at CareVets Gisborne is that expectations are realistic, conversations are direct, and the pace allows people to do their jobs properly without constant urgency.

Her role isn’t clinical, but her influence is felt throughout the clinic — in how pressure is absorbed, how days are steadied, and how CareVets Gisborne remains a place where work fits around life, not the other way around.