Board member Dr John Chambers, who is also an emergency department specialist, said five clinical heads had resigned in the past couple of weeks.
Only one is leaving the health board. The other four are relinquishing clinical leader or medical director roles.
He raised the issue when the board was considering the chief executive's written update on meetings with senior doctors to discuss issues in the organisation.
''I'm sorry - you do not have the ability to talk about this,'' chairman Joe Butterfield cut in when Dr Chambers spoke.
Dr Chambers said other board members might ask questions about the resignations. None did.
Because Dr Chambers is a health board clinician, he is considered to have a conflict of interest over staffing matters.
However, Dr Chambers was allowed to speak about the matter after the public was excluded from the meeting, he told the Otago Daily Times later.
He was not allowed to take part in the discussion about it, and had to leave the meeting, he said. When the ODT asked Mr Butterfield about the resignations, he said Dr Chambers' statement was ''either incorrect or misleading''.
Dunedin Hospital orthopaedics clinical leader Associate Prof David Gwynne-Jones stepped down last month, citing frustration with the health board in a leaked email reported in the ODT last week.
The board last week acknowledged other high-level resignations, but has tried to present the situation as normal staff turnover.
The situation was concerning, Dr Chambers said when contacted by the ODT.
Dr Chambers accepted he had a potential conflict of interest, and was not offended by either the interjection of Mr Butterfield, or being asked to leave the meeting.
He said he raised the matter from a human resources perspective, to ask what process would be followed to determine why the resignations had happened.
Asked if he was able to be effective as a board member under the restrictions, he said he was.
''People voted for me, and I am trying to make a difference.''
