The Roxburgh Medical Centre is to lose its two doctors and is on the hunt for a replacement at present.
It continues the high turnover of doctors at the sole-GP facility, which has been forced to rely on locum cover at some stages over recent years.
The GPs about to leave were a husband and wife who had shared the full time role for 12 months, practice manager Joan Anderson said.
Before that, a locum GP was at the practice, and the GP before that was with the centre for two years and left in 2017.
Roxburgh Medical Services Trust Board chairman John Pritchard said staffing was an ongoing concern.
"It has always been a challenge to find doctors to practice in smaller communities and this community is not exempt.
"The trust has always been concerned around the issue of recruitment and retention of all medical staff."
Mr Pritchard acknowledged and shared the community's concerns when he responded to a letter to the editor in last week's Teviot Bulletin newsletter.
"We . . . are just as concerned as no doubt the others in the community are, with our doctors leaving the district," he said in the newsletter.
Mr Pritchard said the trust was proactively looking for a replacement doctor.
"It is expected that a positive announcement can be expected in the next few weeks."
Mr Pritchard's concerns were echoed by WellSouth practice network director Paul Rowe.
He said experienced rural nurses and doctors were "worth their weight in gold and are highly sought after".
"We work with the Rural GP Network and NZ Locums to help practices source staff, but there is always pressure on staffing in our rural areas that cannot necessarily be solved by throwing money at the problem.
"We simply need more clinicians available."
Last week, the New Zealand Rural General Practice Network (NZRGPN) announced a national tour to encourage rural high school students into healthcare careers.
The organisation and about 20 medical students will visit 36 rural schools around the country including four in Central Otago.
Network chief executive Dalton Kelly said the network had been advocating for medical, nursing and allied health students to be trained in rural areas instead of the universities' city-based medical and health schools.
"We are also keen to show rural practices that the network is working hard to grow the future rural health workforce and ensure the health care provided to rural communities is of high standard."
