A new chief executive from Britain has been appointed by Southern District Health Board.
Carole Heatly is also an expert on mergers of hospitals there and will take over a DHB that was created when the former Otago and Southland Boards merged last year.
A report from the National Health Board earlier this year said the merger was never properly completed and called for widespread improvements by the board.
Ms Heatly is currently head of the North Cumbria University Hospital NHS Trust.
She says mergers are never easy and always take longer than people think.
Ms Heatly, who is Scottish, expects to begin the job in February.