Outgoing Ōamaru Hospital chief executive Keith Marshall is looking forward to meeting his newest grandchild, and moving into his house properly, when he finishes at the end of the year.

“[My wife] Louise and I came here into a new house in June last year, and all our stuff's in a container still,” he said on Tuesday (December 12), when his resignation was announced.

“You know, we've got enough furniture to live by . . . but it'll be nice to do, get some of those things sorted out.”

Keith began as interim chief executive in December 2021 after the resignation of Phil Jamieson, and in February last year, accepted the position permanently.

He is not completely stepping away from the hospital runnings, however, and will be the new Waitaki District Health Services board chair, replacing acting chair Mel Tavendale.

Mel, also a former Waitaki deputy mayor and district councillor, wants to focus on her and husband Steve’s new business, Hub and Sprocket Cycles. She also finishes on December 31.

After two years in his role as chief executive, Keith feels it is “just the right time” for him to move on, and he is trying to do it in the way which causes “least harm and provides the most continuity and stability”.

“So we've had a change of Government. We know that there will be some changes in direction around the health systems, we know what those are. For us we've solved most of our problems, certainly not all of them, and so that just made sense that this was a good time.”

Although modest about his achievements, Keith played a key role in securing an extra $3.5m of annual funding from Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand in February this year, which means pay parity for hospital staff. Something which has not happened before.

“When I found out our guys weren't paid what people with exactly the same qualifications, doing exactly the same jobs, at Timaru and Dunedin were, I was appalled,” he said.

“You know, that's just fundamentally wrong.” 

That had always been the case at Ōamaru Hospital, even when it was inside the public system, Keith said.

It was nice to have that particular puzzle sorted out, but it is not something he takes pride in.

“You know it's not about me . . . one person doesn't do anything. It takes a whole team of people to do that.

“We made a collective view that actually we needed to address that pay parity, because it's just wrong. So you know, am I proud of that? No, I'm not proud of it. It's just something that needed to be done.” 

He is, however, satisfied that things are on track for the “once and for all solution”.

A shortage of emergency department doctors, which plagued the hospital over the winter, forcing ED to close three times in the space of six weeks, is close to being remedied, with three new doctors lined up to arrive in January and February, and other fixed-term staff also coming on board.

As of Monday, there were only four shifts unfilled between now and April, previously there have regularly been four open shifts in an upcoming fortnight.

The nursing roster is also closer than it has been in the past five or six years to being fully staffed, Keith said.

“We need a set of hospital services that we deserve and that are what we need for the community and we have never cracked that problem.”

He talks about a 1924 newspaper article on Oamaru Hospital being unable to recruit staff, unable to offer them what they can get paid elsewhere, and having financial difficulties.

“And, where are we? Knocking on the door of 2024. We've solved the first two . . . but we still have to nail the proper funding. But, unlike when I started, Te Whatu Ora exists. 

“New Zealand has, for the first time in its history, a national health system. That's our opportunity to get this sorted once and for all-time.”

Personally, Keith is “dog tired”.

“There's no way around it. I've been working six and seven days a week, and I get paid for four.

“I got maybe six or seven days off in two years. I'm just tired.”

He does not regret one second of his job though, and it says it required that intensity. Being “immersed in that passion and commitment” is what he’ll miss most.

“You know, you can't help but be astounded at how amazing those people are. For all of the personality quirks, of which there are many and varied, you can't walk past the commitment and passion of the people.

“Even when they're tired, right, they pony up, and that's it. It's hard not to work in and around that and not get swept along with it.”

The nature of hospitals is that they draw intense emotions - positive and negative - from the community, but it is the mistakes that get amplified, he said.

“The good work that you do every single day, on every single shift, across every single roster is never seen.

“You know, the guys have taken a pasting over a long period of time, and they take the criticism to heart, when in actual fact 99 percent of everything they do or more is just astounding.”

Keith will be working through Christmas, so some of the other senior staff can have a break, and then at some stage in the new year he has five grandchildren to visit in the Waikato, including little Elodie, who is almost one, and he has only met via WhatsApp.

On standing down as acting chair of the WDHS board, Mel said it has been “an honour and a privilege to serve our Waitaki community on the hospital board”.

Andrea Cairns and Hugh Kettlewell, two of the existing senior management team, will be interim joint chief executives for the hospital. 

The board will consider a permanent appointment once the future direction of the health reforms under the new government becomes clearer.

“Having two-people cover that role is a good option in terms of splitting the workload more sensibly during this transition period,” Keith said. 

“We are in the fortunate position that both Andrea and Hugh are very capable and talented senior managers.”

Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher expressed his thanks to both Mel and Keith for their contributions to health services in the Waitaki.