A long-running dispute between Southern District Health Board and South Link Health, believed to involve millions of dollars and contracts dating back to the 1990s, has yet to be resolved.
The dispute escalated and was referred to the National Health Board's audit and compliance unit in Christchurch shortly before the February 22 earthquake.
However, consideration of the dispute was delayed as the unit was based in the red zone and had to move to another site.
National Health Board deputy director Michael Hundleby said the unit had to complete urgent work and fully re-establish itself.
The escalation of the dispute followed years of behind-the-scenes discussions about the issue, which involved all the South Island district health boards.
The dispute relates to the contracts South Link Health held for pharmaceutical and laboratory services in the 1990s in the days of the Southern Regional Health Authority.
The money in dispute is savings made on the contracts by South Link Health, with the parties unable to agree on whether agreement was reached on how the savings would be spent.
It is understood the amount of money in question is also disputed.
In April, New Zealand Doctor magazine reported the district health boards estimated the savings and interest came to about $12.5 million, but the Southern District Health Board was not prepared to confirm that figure at the time as the dispute was under consideration by the National Health Board.
Mr Hundleby has also not been prepared to answer questions about the dispute at this stage.
He said the parties had met and "as we have entered into commercial negotiations we do not intend to comment further during these negotiations".
