Fears Strath Taieri could lose its health-care services have been allayed by the Southern PHO.
After the merger of nine Otago and Southland primary health organisations into one PHO in October last year, the Strath Taieri Community Board was concerned health services in the area would be cut.
Board chairman Barry Williams wrote to Southern PHO chairman Dr Conway Powell last month about these concerns and outlined how "critical" the service was to the community.
The area was serviced by two local nurses and one district nurse, with a surgery open in Middlemarch twice a week.
The service offered community support and fostered sustainability in small townships, the letter said.
"We were trying to be proactive and open up the dialogue. It's an extremely good service and we don't want to lose it," Mr Williams told the Otago Daily Times.
While he had a "gut feeling that they could just strike a pen and it would be out", Southern PHO chief executive Ian Macara said things were looking good for Strath Taieri,"We are looking for service continuation [and] things are looking very positive," he said.
The PHO had been looking into ways to fund the service, rather than change it, and a report seeking its approval was due to go to its board next Friday.
