The Southern District Health Board is shedding six full-time jobs in its planning and funding, and finance divisions.
The board's finance and funding general manager, Robert Mackway-Jones, was tight-lipped about the restructuring, refusing to answer most of the Otago Daily Times' questions.
"As you will appreciate, this is a sensitive time for staff involved, so it's not ideal to have reporting around this."
Mr Mackway-Jones said the reason for the restructuring was to "maximise effectiveness in these areas and align the functions to support the newly merged DHB and my role".
The old Otago and Southland boards merged in May.
Later that month, Mr Mackway-Jones, previously chief financial officer, was appointed to a newly-created role when the chief financial, and planning and funding roles were combined. The divisions themselves remained separate.
Consultation on the changes started at the end of last month, with the new structure taking effect on September 20, Mr Mackway-Jones said.
Among questions the ODT asked was how much money the move saved, how many staff work in the two areas, and whether the departing staff were based in Invercargill or Dunedin.
The newspaper has lodged an Official Information Act request.
Public Service Association assistant secretary Warwick Jones said the union was disappointed the DHB disestablished all the roles in planning and funding, and finance, which meant greater uncertainty.
The union's preferred approach was to work with staff to match them with new roles.
