But his office says the visit is purely a meet and greet with Southern District Health Board staff, rather than an opportunity to start addressing some of the issues affecting the board.
There has been tension between senior doctors and senior management, and a sense of drift and dysfunction at the board, which many hope will be addressed sooner rather than later by the new minister.
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Ian Powell said yesterday the ''narrow focus on deficits'' at the Southern District Health Board claimed another casualty with the recent departure of medical director Dr James Knight.
''His resignation sends a strong message to the people running the region's public hospitals that their approach needs to change, because clearly it's not working.
''Dr Knight is highly regarded and has provided a level-headed and insightful voice on issues at the DHB, and his departure is a real loss for the region.''
Mr Powell said there was a sense some DHBs, including Southern, were focusing on the cost of everything without fully appreciating the value of what they had.
''We believe they'll achieve much more, both in terms of quality and performance, if they broaden their approach to prioritise clinical engagement in order to focus on what makes good clinical sense.''
He believed decisions that made good clinical sense also made good financial sense, but focusing so narrowly on deficit reduction was more likely to lead to poor financial and clinical decisions.
Health board patient services medical director Dick Bunton said the board had been working on a strategic plan for the past nine months, which would broaden its view of how it best met the health needs of the Southern population.
''We will begin consulting with the public on this plan next week,'' he said.
''Alongside this, we have our quality and performance framework. This is about improving the quality of the services we provide.''
A spokeswoman at Mr Coleman's office said the new health minister was aware of the issues affecting the SDHB, and they would be addressed.
However, tomorrow's visit would be purely a meet and greet.
''An official itinerary has not been confirmed yet, but basically, this is very much the minister getting out and about.
''He wants to get around all the DHBs, and Southern is the first one.''
