Yesterday's meeting was Mr Rousseau's last, as he leaves the board's employ in a fortnight to take up a position in South Australia overseeing the $1.9 billion redevelopment of the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Approached by the Otago Daily Times after the meeting, Mr Butterfield said board members had farewelled Mr Rousseau at a private function the night before.
He said the oversight at yesterday's meeting was "totally my fault" and he had apologised to Mr Rousseau at the end of the board's in-committee session yesterday.
The board spent most of its public session in the morning discussing the National Health Board's report on the future of Wakatipu health services.
Mr Butterfield said he had meant to thank Mr Rousseau before the end of the public session, but forgot.
His thanks to Mr Rousseau were a "very poor attempt to say thank you to a bloke who has put in a lot of hard work."
He stood by earlier comments that the Otago and Southland communities would be grateful for what Mr Rousseau had achieved. He had said he was sure Mr Rousseau's accomplishments would stand the test of time and would not have been achieved by a less able person.
The past few weeks have been tough for Mr Rousseau with board management being criticised in a damning report by the National Health Board team brought in to review systems at Dunedin Hospital.
Mr Rousseau has spent almost nine years as chief executive in the area, for the Otago District Health Board, then both the Otago and Southland boards, before becoming inaugural chief executive of the merged board last year.
Another farewell for Mr Rousseau will be held at Dunedin Hospital on September 15.
