Some middle management roles, including service managers and charge nurse managers, will change to reflect an increasing focus on community-based services.
While staff losses were not envisaged, some people might be asked to work in a different area, chief executive Carole Heatly said. She dropped plans for ''wholesale change in one go'' because of anxieties raised by staff.
''We rethought it, and we think there's a better way of doing it.''
Ms Heatly will lead staff workshops scheduled over the next couple of weeks in Otago and Southland.
''I don't want staff to be worried about it. I want them to be involved in it.''
She was keen to ''work with the staff and do things with them and not to them''.
The changes would fit the organisation for a future in which services were increasingly based in the community.
''The future looks very different ... more community-oriented services, people waiting less time for access to services.''
The board's five departments would undergo change at their own pace; there was greater urgency in some areas than others.
''What we're doing is we're trying to create a dynamic environment,'' she said.
There was no set timeframe.
Some staff would gain more job security because the board wanted to formalise certain temporary arrangements.
The aim was not to save money, but savings might result.
She considered the affected staff to be in the ''engine room'' of the organisation.
Unions were being kept well apprised of the situation.
Communications director Steve Addison, who accompanied Ms Heatly at her interview with the Otago Daily Times yesterday, said the board was taking a ''soft approach''.
Asking staff to agree to change their job descriptions avoided the ''turmoil'' of a restructuring process. He envisaged the process would be straightforward for most staff.
