He and his wife Melita, a practising dentist, swapped their busy Sydney lives for a little piece of Italy in the heart of the Riverina.
“I am very happy with Griffith and the Base Hospital. It is a great place to live and work, the staff are excellent, everyone has been very welcoming and keen to show us around.
“I would like to see more medical professionals come and just try it, because you do not really understand how good it is until you do. I suspect once they come, they will not want to leave,” Dr Hargreaves said.
“It is a big change of scenery and lifestyle, less hassles, less time commuting, more opportunity to enjoy the house, maintain a yard. I think that I have been to Bunnings 100 times since I've been here”.
Dr Hargreaves is a Surgical Oncology Specialist, an expert in the removal of soft tissue tumours, in particular sarcoma, breast and skin tumours. He is involved in teaching medical students and graduate doctors in Australia, New Zealand, and Myanmar and has also spent time practicing in London.
“I have always been curious about how things work. I admire the people who can build things, make dams, bridges, buildings, pour concrete. We rely on their skill and expertise to live our lives. I am interested to know how things are made,” he said.
“I considered a career as an engineer, electrician, or a plumber, but I thought that understanding the intricacies of the human body, its complexities and being able to fix something that was broken, would be the ultimate profession. That led me to becoming a surgeon. Plus, I wanted to do something with my hands, having the chance to fix a person and then see them go on living their lives.
“Surgery is a team activity, you cannot do it alone. I like being part of the professional team in a hospital, and we have a great group of people working here. I find it quite interesting and especially in a place like Griffith where everyone's got different backgrounds and different stories to tell,” Dr Hargreaves said.
“Patients are patients wherever you go. If you've got appendicitis in the city or appendicitis in the country, it really doesn't matter. We wouldn’t manage a problem any differently here than in a big teaching hospital, which is good. Health professionals may be worried about coming to the country because they think they won't be able to practice a certain way or to a certain standard, but that simply is not true.
“The people in this community receive just as good care as in the city and there is so much potential for health professionals to come and develop their careers in regional areas.
Dr Hargreaves cannot pinpoint exactly what made him want to relocate, and feels it was a combination of things that helped him set his sights on Griffith.
“It's quite hard to put it into words because it's not one thing. I'm not on the run from anything, No, it's lots of little things!” he laughs.
“I was teaching and practicing at St Vincent’s for about 17 years and very happy there, but I think if you work in one place for a very long time, you get a little bit stale. I felt it was the right time to have a change of practice, not a career change as such, because I'm doing the same sort of thing at Griffith Base.
“Practicing here is not that different to practicing in the city. You might have to become more resourceful here at times, and there is plenty of opportunity to broaden your practice, do things that you wouldn't have a chance to do in the city, use the full scope of your training and qualifications.
One of the most important draw cards for Dr Hargreaves was the development of the new Griffith Base Hospital.
“I am most excited about the development of the hospital and the input I can offer. There is lots of work to do, lots of planning for the setup of the clinical spaces and theatres. I've previously been involved in redevelopments, but a new total re-build is an opportunity to apply my career learnings, all the years of experience and my thoughts about how to make a hospital work better,” he said.
As the Clinical Director of General Surgery for Griffith Base Hospital, Dr Hargreaves hopes to see Griffith Base Hospital renowned for providing not only exceptional care, but a destination of choice for health professionals seeking to relocate to regional areas.
“I want to see services expand, to be strengthened. The new build will give us that opportunity and will be world class facility enticing more professionals from the big tertiary hospitals. People will be surprised when it's all done and they see how good it is.
Despite warnings about missing the beach and opera, Warren and Melita feel that Griffith has everything they need to settle comfortably in their new home.
“We don’t feel like we are missing out on anything major, Griffith has amazing restaurants, it is easy to socialise, and have friends and family visit us, because the Riverina has much to offer. Griffith is a decent size, has good facilities and amenities and a diverse population.
“There's no traffic, there's no waiting around, no queues, no crowds. It’s much, much quieter, and there's still lots of things to do here. You can still go to the movies, you can still eat out, play sport, ride bikes, horses, swim in the river, whatever you please. And there is so much opportunity to sample local produce, farmers markets and visit nearby towns. The only thing you can't do is go to the beach”.
“My wife is a dentist and has commenced work at a local practice. She feels the same as I do and is settling into her new role. She grew up in Nyngan, a small country town on the edge of the NSW outback, so it is another change of pace coming to a regional city,” he said.
Dr Hargreaves wants more people to come to regional and remote towns and sample the lifestyle.
“I think it is sometimes hard to keep the younger ones in regional towns, they go off to study in the city, and often do not return. That is normal and expected. They gain important exposure to a wide range of things, different health systems and understand what works.
“But there exists a large pool of experienced health professionals in the city who are looking for something else. Entice them to the country, make the transition easy, remove the stress.
“You may not fully appreciate all the things regional areas have to offer, until you live it. You may find time for new interests, time for family you did not realise you were missing.
“I can now walk to work and it only takes a few minutes.
“Strangely enough I have found I love to garden and mow the lawn. I’ve not had a yard since I was 17. We now have a big yard, with an olive tree that is fruiting, and I am very interested to see how they go and how to prepare them, maybe learn to grow my own produce.
An accomplished competitive canoe sportsman, Dr Hargreaves is also looking forward to paddling on the river.
“I enjoy ocean canoe racing, dragon boat racing and am in the NSW team for dragon boat racing. The national championships are running in Albury this year, so I am just swapping the ocean for the river to keep training.
Dr Hargreaves sees the Riverina as an untapped resource of talent and opportunity.
“There is so much potential here, so many people doing extraordinary things, creating amazing products. People seem happier here, more positive. We are looking forward to embracing our new lifestyle, having the time to get out and about, talking to people, hearing their own stories and learning more about all the food bowl of NSW has to offer.
“Perhaps I might learn to make my own gnocchi along the way, that would be a bonus.