It had earlier been hoped that the extra 35 hours a week acute theatre time would start in November, but Southern District Health Board funding and finance general manager Robert Mackway-Jones said recruiting staff had taken longer than was hoped.
Emergency medicine and surgery group manager Dr Colleen Coop said time taken to recruit anaesthetists and nurses was the issue, although the extra nurses were expected to arrive in mid-January.
Mike Hunter, a member of the "Putting the patient First" governance group, which is developing a plan to improve the patient journey through Dunedin and Wakari hospitals, said he was ashamed of the fact many patients still did not have timely access for acute operations.
It was, however, a complicated issue.
The board agreed in July to extend the acute operating hours following mounting concern about the risks posed to patients.
In a presentation in May orthopaedic clinical leader David Gwynne-Jones told the board's hospitals' advisory committee fewer than half of Dunedin Hospital patients requiring acute surgery received it within the ideal time.
Some patients could be required to fast two or three days in a row and then be told late in the afternoon the theatre was too busy to deal with them.
The situation can also result in elective surgery being postponed.
Mr Gwynne-Jones estimated more than 1500 bed days were wasted by people waiting for operations.
Earlier, the hospital's chief operating officer, Vivian Blake, said it was "nuts" the hospital had only one of its eight operating theatres dedicated for acute surgery when it was struggling to cope with the demand.
About half of the surgery done at the hospital is classed as acute.
Mr Mackway-Jones said the expected $419,000 net cost to the board of the extra hours would be managed within the board's existing $10.5 million deficit for this financial year.
