Hastings' first post office opened in 1872, located on the corner of Heretaunga Street and Karamu Road within Tobias Hicks's general store. In 1875 it was moved to the railway station building in Station Street (now Russell Street). When the railway station itself was moved in 1896, a stand-alone post office was opened on the Station Street site. This grew too small and in 1910 a new post office was opened on the corner of Russell Street and Queen Street East. Designed by government architect John Campbell, the building included a prominent clock tower. In 1928, major additions were made to the building. Just three years later, the building was badly damaged by Hawkes Bay earthquake. The tower toppled onto the street, killing one person and injuring others. The building was rebuilt in a Stripped Classical style. Government architect J.T. Mair designed the building, which cost £12,022. It remained in use as the Hastings Post Office until at least 1999. In 2001, ownership passed to the Wallace Development Co., by which time the post office had moved to new premises. The Hastings Medical Centre became the principal tenant and to accommodate the new use, considerable alterations were made, including demolition of parts of the building. It reopened in 2002.

The former Hastings Post Office is one of the best known and historically important buildings in Hastings. There has been a post office on the site for nearly 100 years and as the main postal centre in town it was a place used by a great many Hastings residents. Its new role as a health centre has maintained the building's high profile, while ensuring its continued presence in the city's history and streetscape.

The building is two-storey, built in reinforced concrete, and is in the Stripped Classical style. This is evident in the subtle Ionic decoration of the full-height pilasters that support the parapet and form the dominant feature of the composition. Designed by the Government Architect J T Mair, it was an appropriate building for the post-earthquake reconstruction of the city, being economical in form and decoration and of sound structural design, yet with a visual interest deserving of the prominent central site that it occupied.