Canterbury District Health Board is to receive a $180 million bailout from the Government to wipe its deficit for the coming year so it can pay its bills and staff.
Health Minister Chris Hipkins made the revelation during a visit to Christchurch on Thursday in which he met clinical leaders, the CDHB’s board chairman and management, and nurses union representatives over how to claw their way out of a financial black hole.
Hipkins told Stuff: “As recently as over the last two weeks the Government has agreed an additional equity injection of $180m into the Canterbury DHB because we recognise that their financial difficulties in the past have left them without the room to move that they need.”
The CDHB is understood to have known about the bailout for about a week, and it was formally confirmed during a committee meeting held in private on Tuesday in the form of a letter from Hipkins to chairman Sir John Hansen.
Hansen said the money was vital: “Without it we couldn’t continue in business.
“Quite simply it is critical for us to be able to continue delivering the standard of care that Canterbury patients expect and are entitled to.”
But he warned it would only cover the deficit for the current 2020/21 financial year.
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