Oamaru Hospital wants to be in the Government's new voluntary bonding scheme so it can attract medical staff to work long-term.
Hospital manager Robert Gonzales last week said it appeared Oamaru Hospital, and similar community-owned hospitals throughout Otago, did not qualify to be part of the scheme, which encourages student graduates to work in areas that have difficulty attracting medical staff.
He has approached the Ministry of Health, on behalf of the Oamaru, Clutha, Dunstan, Maniototo and Gore hospitals, asking to be included in the scheme.
The scheme, introduced last year by the Government, rewards medical, midwifery and nursing graduates who agree to work in hard-to-staff areas for three to five years.
It is designed to move graduates into communities and specialties that need them most.
In return, students receive incentive payments to help repay their student loans.
Timaru Hospital, owned by the South Canterbury District Health Board, is eligible and could have up to four doctors, three midwives and eight nurses working there this year as part of the scheme.
Mr Gonzales had checked with the Ministry of Health and said the Otago District Health Board was not eligible.
That then appeared to exclude community-owned hospitals, such as Oamaru, within the Otago area.
"It don't think that is deliberate. Because we are not district health board-owned we have gone under the radar. I think it is an oversight by the ministry who may not have realised there are rural hospitals like Oamaru that are community-owned."
The Oamaru Hospital is owned and operated by Waitaki District Health Services Ltd, a company wholly owned by the Waitaki District Council.
Mr Gonzales felt community-owned hospitals in rural areas such as Oamaru, which had difficulty attracting long-term staff, should be included in the scheme and has put that case to the ministry.
He said they would benefit by being able to attract staff and retain them for up to five years.
At present, Oamaru Hospital was in a good position with medical staff, but it had had difficulties in the past, he said.
Students must stay at a hospital for at least three years to receive a lump-sum payment of $10,000 a year for doctors, $3500 for midwives and $2833 for nurses.
