Gywn said the priority was “ensuring people continue to have access to safe healthcare services while THG works on a plan to stabilise its workforce and support the long-term delivery of services in Dannevirke”.
Pausing new admissions to the hospital was a precautionary measure.
He said current patients would be looked after and maternity services would continue as normal.
Patient Voice Aotearoa’s Malcolm Mulholland said he was confused by the development.
“It effectively becomes a patient-less hospital, I’ve never heard of one of those,” he told Checkpoint.
GPs were not referring patients to the hospital because of “clinically unsafe practices”, Mulholland said.
He did not know how many staff Health NZ would bring in and said THG should not retain the contract to run the hospital.
“They need to kick them out.”
Hundreds had attended public meetings in recent nights, he said, and everyone was “singing the same tune”.