The United Kingdom-trained neurosurgeon, Mr Irfan Malik, is expected to start work in September.
The board has been without a second specialist in this field since mid-January and its remaining neurosurgeon, Suzanne Jack, has been covering both Otago and Southland, with back-up from Canterbury.
The board needs two neurosurgeons to allow it to remain a level six intensive care unit for training staff in advanced levels of intensive care, anaesthesia and for some surgical specialties.
At this week's hospital advisory committee meeting, several references were made to continued staff shortages in other areas including intensive care, the emergency department, breast care services, speech language therapy and ophthalmology.
At the end of May, the staff vacancies in the board's services totalled 130, down five from the previous month.
Nurse vacancies are still the largest group at 51.
A shortage of anaesthetists continues to make an impact including the loss of surgery time for cardiothoracic surgery from mid-June to the end of July.
Three anaesthetists are expected to start work later in the year, one in July and the other two in September and November.
Members were told the medical staffing at the intensive care unit continued to be at high risk.
The unit has only four senior medical officers when it is supposed to have six.
For six weeks last year the unit had only two specialists.
The unit's clinical leader, Mike Hunter, has previously expressed concern at the difficulties some experienced overseas doctors have in getting vocational registration as intensive care specialists.
The emergency medicine and surgery services group report for May said vacancies continued to be a source of pressure for the emergency department, with achieving a full complement of nurses "an ongoing challenge".
Lack of theatre time, staff shortages, and staff concentrating on clinics to do preventive blindness work has meant cataract surgery is below what was expected by 129 cases.
Joint surgery to the end of May was also 48 cases below target.
The diagnostic and support services group reported breast screening of younger women has had to be limited because of the shortage of medical radiation technologists, sickness and training.
Breast care services has also been unable to continue marae visits started earlier this year, aimed at increasing screening rates for Maori women, because of staff shortages.
From early June, the speech language therapy service had 70% of its positions either vacant or filled by locums who needed mentoring and supervision.
Committee chairman Richard Thomson said the board needed to look outside its immediate workplace for solutions, suggesting an approach could be made to the Ministry of Education to see if there were any therapists who might want extra hours.
The board could also consider offering someone who was interested in developing a private practice a higher number of hours in the short term and then reduce them to allow for that.
Chief nursing officer Teresa Bradfield said that would be a change of approach and she would welcome such flexibility.
