Two new midwives are expected to start work in Greymouth soon - a bright spot for the West Coast DHB in trying to recruit staff across a number of areas.
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A staffing report from the West Coast DHB said overall, the board had 78 current open vacancies across the whole organisation.
"They (midwives) are moving with their young families to Greymouth. Maternity staff have been working tirelessly to fill gaps in the roster, so this will take the pressure off."
The board has also successfully recruited a new midwifery educator/clinical coach enabling maternity education to get up and running again.
Buller was "still a challenge", but the board believed it was about to secure a lead maternity carer for Westport on a three-month contract and that person might consider moving permanently into that position after this.
DHB member Anita Halsall-Quinlan of Westport asked DHB general manager Philip Wheble what the situation really was at Buller because feedback to her was "it is a little bit lacking in continuity of care."
"Mr Wheble said the board hoped to turn a corner soon on that.
"I think there is some good news coming fairly shortly."
Halsall-Quinlan said the vacant maternity lactation position in Westport was a concern, with a person covering from Greymouth in the meantime.
She was "curious" as the position had not been advertised. Yet a person living in Westport who had been voluntarily supporting new mothers in lactation had not been approached "to fill that void", despite their qualification and international experience in that area, Halsall-Quinlan said.
Wheble said he would make inquiries.
His report noted a new nursing recruitment drive by the board was "tracking well" with some positive results. This included welcoming back a previous employee into a new role in charge of the hospital's general ward.
"This has been well received by the staff and already we are seeing an improvement," the report said.
"We continue to have a lot of gaps coming up in some areas, specifically the general ward at Te Nīkau and Reefton Hospital."
In the allied health, scientific and technical area the board's new child development service (CDS) Kaiarahi had started.
Vacancies were open in the physiotherapy, occupational therapy and kaiāwhina teams. They had been struggling to recruit oral health therapists in Greymouth and Hokitika and had gone back out to market again earlier this month. For the medical centre, a new GP was being interviewed and was looking "very promising".
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