It is a case of musical chairs at Waitaki District Health Services Ltd, as the current chief executive moves to a new board role and senior staff take over the chief executive position.
Waitaki District Health Services Ltd (WDHSL) acting board chairwoman Melanie Tavendale will step down from the board and will be replaced by WDHSL chief executive Keith Marshall.
Mr Marshall has been Oamaru hospital’s chief executive for the past two years, a role he will step down from at the end of the month.
Mr Marshall’s transition to board chairman will lead to two existing WDHSL senior leadership staff, corporate services director Andrea Cairns and development director Hugh Kettlewell, temporarily sharing the chief executive role from January.
To ensure a smooth transition, Mr Marshall said it made sense to split the interim role between Mrs Cairns and Mr Kettlewell until a new chief executive was appointed.
"It gives us the best of both worlds. It’s like a two-for-one special deal," Mr Marshall said.
"We are in the fortunate position that both Andrea and Hugh are very capable and talented senior managers."
Mr Marshall said his change of roles was "my successful attempt at trying to retire" as well as a "sensible decision" to retain within the organisation the knowledge he had acquired during the past two years.
A significant milestone was achieved during Mr Marshall’s time as Oamaru Hospital’s chief executive when staff were given the same remuneration as others in the same roles elsewhere in New Zealand.
Unequal pay rates went back a century.
Mr Marshall cited a 1924 newspaper article detailing unfair pay rates compared to other districts and regions.
The pay rise for all staff at Oamaru Hospital was the "first in its history".
"I was quite taken aback when I realised that our guys got paid less for doing exactly the same job; it was fundamentally wrong," he said.
Mr Marshall said Oamaru Hospital still faced issues, such as long waiting times.
The main issue that still needed to be resolved, however, was having a hospital everyone in the community "looks up to".
"We need a hospital ... that does its very best in healthcare."
The board will consider a permanent appointment to the chief executive role once the future direction of the health reforms under the new government becomes clearer.
