The Southern District Health Board has been shelling out more than $10,000 a week for a temporary head of finance.
Figures released under the Official Information Act show Mike Hoshek, of Christchurch, received $43,197 in August, and $26,594 for his first two weeks, in July.
They were the most up-to-date figures available.
The payments included $5700 for travel and other expenses.
Mr Hoshek is due to leave at the end of the month, and another temporary finance chief will take his place, health board commissioner Kathy Grant said.
A ''business operation'' of the board's size needed the ''critical skill set'' possessed by the likes of Mr Hoshek, a partner at accounting firm Deloitte New Zealand.
He billed for 163 hours in August and 104 hours in July.
''It was essential in the sense that we did not have a chief financial officer in place,'' Mrs Grant said, referring to the time when she was appointed in June.
Then, the position was officially vacant, but former finance head Peter Beirne was acting in the role, as well as filling another senior position.
Mr Beirne is now able to focus solely on his role as infrastructure and strategic projects director.
Recruitment attempts for a permanent chief financial officer have been unsuccessful.
Health Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman lost patience with the board's financial situation this year, and its members and chairman were sacked.
But it has come at a financial price for the embattled board.
Mrs Grant is paid $1400 a day (to an annual limit of $180,000), while her three deputies receive $900 for every billed day.
However, the board is no longer paying members or a chairman, who collectively received $345,000 in the last full financial year.
It was revealed in July officials in Wellington were granted special permission to raise Mrs Grant's daily pay to compensate for the risk to her reputation from making unpopular decisions.
Last year, the board faced a public backlash when it was revealed chief executive Carole Heatly's pay rose by $70,000 to more than $500,000, the same year it posted a $17.8million deficit.
A string of consultancy firms, from as far afield as the United States, have come and gone in recent years in a bid to improve the board's performance and meet yearly budgets.
