The message, sent by acting chief executive Lisa Gestro on Wednesday, said the board's executive leadership team wanted to acknowledge the impact media coverage of the organisation might be having on some staff and teams.
The message - sent before the Ministry of Health reported on Friday the board's deficit was sitting at $40million for the year ended May 31 - specifically mentioned coverage of southern cancer services, the review of colonoscopy, pressure on Dunedin Hospital's emergency department, and the inquest into the death of 2-year-old Hineihana Sosefina Mausii.
"We want to acknowledge the extremely hard work of all of you that have experienced not only this attention, but indeed the challenges within the services that have led to this,'' Mrs Gestro said.
"We also acknowledge the pressure this can place on our teams more broadly, who are working extremely hard to meet the needs of our communities every day.''
Other notable stories about the board in recent weeks include concerns over neurosurgery services in Dunedin and maternity services in Lumsden and Wanaka.
Mrs Gestro said any teams could talk to board executives about challenges they were facing, and said "specific strategies'' were being explored to address the situations faced by the SDHB.
"Recent challenges'' underlined the urgency of that work, she said.
"We do need a strong and constructive internal culture where we are able to discuss our challenges and work collaboratively on solutions.''
This is not the first time the board has written to staff about media coverage of the organisation.
In 2017, chief executive Chris Fleming wrote to staff saying the board was confronted with "ongoing negative media'' and encouraged them to read the board's own social media feed and newsletters for a more positive story.
