''It's going to be very tough but I'm confident we can make a go of it, '' Central Otago Health Services Ltd (COHSL) chairman Russell McGeorge said yesterday.
A joint statement from the health company and the health board said agreement had been reached on funding for the next 12 months.
The board provides 90% of Dunstan's funding and had proposed a 5% funding cut, while COHSL was seeking an extra 5% to cater for its increasing population.
No figures were mentioned in the statement and, when contacted, Mr McGeorge declined to elaborate on the details of the deal but said the health company would reveal more information next week. News yesterday
of the SDHB being sacked by Health Minister Jonathan Coleman and replaced by a commissioner would overshadow those details if released now, he said.
''We want to do a full report back to our community and outline more details and that will probably be at the beginning of next week. It's not an appropriate time now and the information would get somewhat lost amongst the other things going on.''
COHSL had warned it would have to reduce hospital services and staffing if its budget was reduced.
A series of meetings it held last month to highlight the issue, in Alexandra, Cromwell and Wanaka, attracted an attendance of about 1700.
Mr McGeorge confirmed the health company would be able to maintain its current level of services for this year, under the new budget. The agreement was definitely a compromise, he said.
''I think it's fair to say both the DHB and ourselves gave ground and neither party has got exactly what we wanted.
''Our staff, shareholders and COHSL's board have all made contributions to allow us to get through.''
In the joint statement, DHB chief executive Carole Heatly and COHSL general manager Karyn Penno said they were pleased with the outcome of the negotiations, ''which was based on mutual understanding and a shared vision of the way forward''.
Ms Heatly said a future funding model would focus on the population growth in the area served by the health company and on ''improving health outcomes for the community''. Ms Penno said the new funding model would give the health company the chance to deliver even better services in the future.
Mr McGeorge said the depth of support from the community during the negotiations was ''fantastic''.
It endorsed COHSL's work and highlighted for the DHB that people in Central Otago were passionate about health services.
A petition opposing funding cuts for Dunstan Hospital, signed by 7577 people, was presented to Dr Coleman on Tuesday.
