Otago District Health Board chairman Errol Millar does not want to get into a "pub brawl" with Health Minister Tony Ryall , but he is keen to know the fate of the board's $24 million capital works programme.
There has been mounting concern about the substandard state of some board facilities.
Mr Millar said yesterday he did not want the board to be the subject of a negative health and disability commissioner report.
While he did not want to "wave white shrouds" at Mr Ryall, he did want to know what his priorities were and where Otago stood "in the pecking order".
At the Ministry of Health's request, the board has had to set priorities for the first stage of its master-site project, designed to address space restrictions at Dunedin Hospital by moving some services to Wakari Hospital.
Relocating the acute mental health ward to Wakari Hospital and upgrading the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and upgrading the main electrical switchboard, lifts and generators, are on the list.
The NICU, which is on the fifth floor of the Dunedin Hospital ward block, would move into an area now occupied by first-floor board offices, some of which will be shifted to Wakari Hospital.
The board decided in February last year to proceed with the three-year master-site project, despite uncertainty over how it would meet millions of dollars in capital charges which have to come out of operating costs.
However, since then, the project has been awaiting approval, although one aspect of it, relocating Public Health South from rental premises to Wakari Hospital, has been completed.
Board building and property services manager Warren Taylor said the rest of stage one, which would cost an estimated further $14 million, included relocating and redeveloping the paediatric ward and the intensive care ward and relocating the staff cafeteria to allow for these developments.
Much work had been done on the Ward 1A and NICU projects and if approval were given it was expected work could begin within months.
Mr Ryall's office advised yesterday the Ministry of Health and other central agencies were completing the assessment of the board's proposals before providing advice to the minister.
It was noted that the capital expenditure requests of the ministry for this financial year totalled more than $600 million when the budget was $220 million.
Urgent projects
Money sought for:
• Relocating Dunedin Hospital Ward 1A to Wakari Hospital.
• Redeveloping neonatal intensive care unit.
• Shifting some offices.
• Upgrading Dunedin hospital switchboard, lifts and generators.
• $15.1 million to be spent at Wakari Hospital, $9.1 million at Dunedin Hospital.
