One of the district health board chiefs moved aside by new government appointments says he leaves with great regret.
Peter Glensor, long-term chair at Hutt Valley DHB, is also standing down as the lead chair for all 20 DHBs.
Mr Glensor has chaired Hutt Valley DHB for the past seven years is on leave and could not be contacted.
However, in a public statement forwarded to Radio New Zealand News, Mr Glensor says the change means he is also withdrawing from his role as the lead chairman for all the district health boards.
Mr Glensor says the highlight of that work was a ground-breaking pay deal this year between the Government, DHBs and unions affiliated wiht the Council of Trade Unions, covering 90% of sector workers.
The executive director of the senior doctors' union, Ian Powell, says Mr Glensor's departure is a loss.
"It's not a comment his successor, but it is a comment on his loss at that level. Inevitably, it will lower the level of his status and contribution, I think, as a consequence."
Dr Virginia Hope will now chair both Hutt Valley and Capital & Coast DHBs.
Mr Powell says Hutt Valley residents may feel it is a takeover, but fundamental decisions are made elsewhere.
"The real action, in fact, is actually closer to the clinical frontline and between specialists and other health professionals."
Work begins for the new DHB chairpersons on 6 December.
