The transition to the Southern District Health Board is expected to cost about $20,000, not including staff time, regional chief financial officer Robert Mackway-Jones says.
Mr Mackway-Jones said so far about $10,600 had been spent but there were quite a few minor expenses not yet invoiced and paid.
The new board's life officially begins on May 1, with the first meeting to be held in Invercargill on May 6.
Existing elected and appointed members of both boards will form the new board until after the local body elections in October.
In a recent statement, boards' chief executive Brian Rousseau said preparations for the changeover were largely complete and a smooth transition was expected.
The collaboration between the boards since the formation of the Southern Alliance in February 2007 meant the boards had already aligned various organisation systems.
They also shared a regional executive management team which included information technology, finance, human resources and planning and funding.
Mr Rousseau said while the boards were forming one organisation, this did not mean changes to the delivery of health services in the two provinces.
"Patients will continue to receive services as they always have and referrals processes to local services should not alter."
The boards have already been working on a regional clinical services network which will include the restructure of the boards' services so they come under one "provider arm" instead of two, but this work is not yet complete.
New board chairman Errol Millar said the first meeting of the board at the former nurses' home in Invercargill would be preceded by a Maori blessing at 11am, followed by a morning tea to which community and health service representatives had been invited.
It was not known yet how many people would be attending.
