At the opening ceremony before the board's inaugural meeting at Southland Hospital in Invercargill yesterday, Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean read a message of congratulations from Mr English.
The health sector would be under pressure to cater for an ageing population and those with chronic diseases and would need to do more with "a similar level of resources", he said.
There was not the luxury of time to make a gradual improvement and accelerated change would be what was required.
He acknowledged the perseverance of the members of the previous Otago and Southland district health boards.
About 40 people attended the launch ceremony including board members, representatives of various branches of the health and disability sector, the University of Otago, and MPs Michael Woodhouse and Ms Dean.
The ceremony included a mihi from Taare Bradshaw, a blessing by board member Tahu Potiki, and a brief speech from Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt, which included a joke about a bear and three men of religion.
In his comments at the opening, chairman Errol Millar said it was an unusual occasion, because while people might consider "we're here to create something new", in fact the board had been in the development stage for several years.
He paid tribute to the work of previous Otago chairman Richard Thomson, and Southland chairman Dennis Cairns and chief executive, Brian Rousseau, for the foresight they had shown.
He also thanked those who had burned the midnight oil to ensure the transition was as smooth as possible.
Yesterday, after the meeting, Mr Millar admitted to one slight glitch.
He had overlooked the discussion of proposed standing orders for the new board, but this would be done at the next meeting.
By early next week, Mr Millar and his deputy, Paul Menzies, will have worked out who is to be on the new board advisory committees.
There will two committees rather than three under this board, with the community and public health and disability support advisory committees being combined.
Previously, there were two committees, although they shared Otago and Southland membership.
Mr Millar acknowledged concerns about disability issues being overlooked under this arrangement and said attention would be given to ensuring this did not happen when planning agendas.
The other committee will be the hospital advisory committee. Each of the old boards had a separate one of these.
The number of people on the committees, and who will chair them, has not yet been settled, but Mr Millar said members had agreed that it would not be sensible to just combine all the members of the old committees.
