The Lumsden Maternity Centre has reached a funding agreement with the Southern DHB - but its future after September next year remains unclear.
The Otago Daily Times understands the DHB has reached agreements on the renewal of primary maternity contracts with both Northern Southland Health Ltd, which operates the Lumsden centre, and the Central Southland Hospital Charitable trust, operator of the Winton Maternity Centre.
It is understood the contracts for both will be renewed, but only until September 2018.
NSHL chairwoman Carrie Adams told the ODT yesterday there was a ''question mark'' over what would happen after that.
The uncertainty was, in part, due to the DHB's primary maternity services report process, which was looking at the way maternity services were delivered across the catchment area.
''As I understand it, the DHB are going through this ... process, under which they're going to come to some definitive conclusions about where gets a facility - like, does Wanaka get one - and where doesn't get a facility.
''So, certainly, there are still question marks out there but for now our goal, as a company, is to get the message out there to please, please, please use Lumsden.
''If people stop using it because they think it's possible we might close, then it might be a self-fulfilling prophecy.''
Mrs Adams said at present Lumsden had about 30 births a year, but an increasing number of post-natal stays - last year there were about 80.
It had not received an increase to its contracts fund since 2012 and the DHB's offer of a 1% increase was not satisfactory.
Mrs Adams would not comment on what percentage increase the DHB had agreed to for the renewed contract.
The company had also been looking at ways to save money where it could and would likely phase in changes from next month.
''We have received permission from the Ministry of Health and the DHB to have our on-call midwife off-site ... by doing that, it saves a lot of money because when they're on-site they need to be paid minimum wage, because they're leaving home.
''We are pursuing it and, as a board, we completely understand that in an ideal scenario it would be lovely to have a midwife on site there waiting, but it's in the interests of keeping the facility open that we're doing this, so yes, it will be off-site cover.''
The other change was to encourage those women ready and able to be at home to do so.
Within the centre's contract, women could stay there for 48 hours after birth but, historically, that had been ''very, very flexible'', she said.
''There are a lot of clinical reasons why people have to stay longer ... those people, by no means, will be booted out at all.''
