Extra acute surgery will be offered at Dunedin Hospital, but it is not yet known when.
Southern District Health Board Otago chief operating officer, Vivian Blake, said the go-ahead has been given for 35 extra hours a week, expected to cost an extra $419,000 a year.
Since it will involve recruiting about seven full-time equivalent staff in a variety of roles, it was not possible to give a starting time for the extra hours.
Mrs Blake said the National Health Board had given "its blessing" to plans for both the $2 million 10-bed emergency department observation unit project, and the extra acute surgery, although it had still to be established where the funding would come from.
