The position was previously held by Dr Pat Farry, who died suddenly last year.
Dr Sijnja, who was born in Holland and moved to New Zealand as a child, has been a GP in Balclutha for 30 years, and he was closely involved with setting up the community owned-and-operated hospital and health centre in Balclutha.
For 10 years he taught medical students in rural general practice and rural hospitals, and he has worked as a rural co-ordinator within the immersion programme.
The immersion programme, under which some medical students complete part of their training in a rural setting, gave students invaluable hands-on experience in smaller hospitals and practices, he said.
Dr Sijnja said he was committed to working towards further integration of community and hospital level care in the rural community.
