Our Doctors
DR GERARD BROWNSTEIN
Gerard started consulting at Church Street Surgery 1991 . He has special interests in anaesthetics and topical medicines.
DR PETER SLOT
Peter joined the practice in 1997 as a partner. He relocated with his family from Melbourne to work in a rural general practice. Peter’s special interests are travel medicine, dermatology and skin cancers.
DR GARY O'BRIEN
Gary moved to Benalla in 2000 with his young family, having been a GP in Stawell for the previous thirteen years. Gary is a partner and enjoys the broad experience of being a procedural GP – providing anaesthetics services. His special interests are pain management and family medicine ………… and golf / cycling!
DR BRIAN HOLLINS
Brian stareted consulting at Church Street Surgery when moved to Benalla with his family in early 2006. Brian enjoys the variety offered by rural general practice work. The principle focus of his practice is meeting the complex medical needs of the ageing population. He also enjoys training new doctors and medical students and working in the team based approach to chronic illness management at Church Street Surgery.
DR JOHN LAMBERT
John moved to Benalla in 2010 from New South Wales in order to further his general practice and obstetrics training and decided to stay. He and his young family have settled on a farm in the area. John is a partner in the practice, and has a keen interest in obstetrics and frequently performs caesarean sections as part of his obstetric work. He also has an interest in indigenous healthcare and enjoys the variety of rural general practice.
DR URSULA READ
Ursula initially commenced consulting in 1998, and apart from spending four years in Far North Queensland, has been with us ever since. She now works part-time in General Practice, and also works as a Medical Educator training junior Doctors and GP Registrars in the area. Ursula enjoys the variety of general practice.
DR FLEUR CHRISTOPHERSEN
Fleur joined Church Street Surgery in 2008 having completed 2 years at North East Health Wangaratta in anaesthetics and paediatrics. Prior to that Fleur completed medicine at Monash University and moved to the Benalla region to be closer to her husband’s family. Fleur became a partner in the practice in 2021 and has a special interest in anaesthetics and family medicine.
DR NATHAN FAHN
Nathan moved to Australia in 2005 from Taiwan where he worked as a thoracic surgery consultant. He worked at North East Health Wangaratta for 3 years and came to Church Street Surgery in 2011. In 2012, Nathan undertook further advanced skills training in anaesthetics. Nathan became a partner in the practice in 2015. Nathan has special interests in men’s health and minor surgical procedures.
DR RYAN WADDELL
Ryan grew up in Benalla and worked at Benalla Church Street Surgery as an intern in 2018 Ryan returned to Benalla Church Street Surgery as a GP Registrar in Feb 2021 after completing his Obstetric training at Northeast Health. Ryan’s special interest is obstetrics and he performs all antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal care and Caesareans.
DR PHILLIPPA MURRAY
Philippa grew up in Euroa and commenced consulting at Benalla Church Street Surgery as an intern in 2014. Pip returned to Benalla Church Street Surgery in 2017 after completing her GP Obstetric training at North East Health. Pip has a keen interest in obstetrics and she performs all antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal care and Caesareans. Pip also participates in the school doctor program.
DR ANDREW HAWTHORNE
Andrew commenced consulting at Church Street Surgery in 2022 after previously being a registrar and medical student here. He is a fellow of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM), and has advances skills training in anaesthetics. In addition to working at Church St, Andrew also works for the Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Services Benalla Outreach. He is the ACRRM education lead for First Nations’ health in Victoria and medical educator and a lecturer with the University of Melbourne. He has special interests in anaesthesia, Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander health and medical education. He enjoys the breadth of general practice.
In his spare time he enjoys spending time with his young family, cooking and gardening.
