A 10-person regional executive management team below the chief executive has been suggested for Otago and Southland district health boards in a consultation document sent to staff and unions this month.
The proposed restructure follows the recent appointment of Brian Rousseau as chief executive of both boards, and includes a new regional chief executive's office.
Mr Rousseau said this week he expected the total staffing costs under the restructure to be less than the existing.
However, he could not confirm this until the structure was approved and the job-sizing done.
Costs for all regional positions would be shared on a population basis, with Otago paying about two-thirds and Southland the rest.
The proposed 10-strong line-up included a new regional general manager of hospital services and a University of Otago health sciences representative, to be nominated by the university.
This was designed to reflect the critical nature of the relationship with the university, both now and in the future, the proposal said.
Only three of the positions involved in the restructure would be advertised outside the board: the general manager of hospital services, and two positions in the regional chief executive's office, one for a corporate solicitor and the other for an office manager.
Mr Rousseau's office, which would be run from both Dunedin and Invercargill, would include two board secretaries and a personal assistant.
The Southland board already had a corporate solicitor and this position would become regional, Mr Rousseau said.
External legal advice would be sought for the more complex matters.
Some other top management positions would be redefined, with in some cases changes to reporting lines.
Each board would have a four-person hospital executive management team.
The two boards, which have been formally collaborating since February 2007 through the Southern Alliance, already had some senior staff working across both boards in human resources, finance, planning and funding, primary care, information technology and regional development, although the latter position was vacant and would not carry over to the new structure.
It was proposed some positions, including hospital services regional medical adviser and nursing adviser, would be filled by giving top medical and nursing officers in each board a turn at the job annually.
The regional Maori Health adviser would also be a position which was filled by rotation - one year it would be the Maori Health manager of Southland and the next the Maori Health manager of Otago, although Otago's Maori Health manager position has been vacant for more than a year.
Feedback on the proposal closes on November 14, with decisions expected on November 28 and any changes to be implemented in January.
