The Health Ministry is investigating why over $100 million of public money is being held in reserve by local health clinics.
Figures obtained by The Dominion Post under the Official Information Act show primary health organisations (PHOs) have $115m in reserve -- more than half of which has been invested.
The money is supposed to be spent on public health programmes with a non-profit intent and the issue comes to light as district health boards, who control the funding for the PHOs, continue to struggle with large debt.
Health Minister Tony Ryall said the issue was being investigated and could end with PHOs being stripped of over $30m in annual management fees.
PHOs chief executive Alan Greenslade told the paper that sitting on such reserves was "not a good look", but that there was a lag between funding being set aside and projects being ticked off by DHBs.
Capital PHO chairman Richard Tyler said PHOs got money up front for services to be provided in the year ahead and that taking a snapshot of account balances was "meaningless".
Mr Ryall said while DHBs may be taking a long time to approve programmes, it didn't explain a big rise in invested money over the past year.
"We're paying PHOs over $30m in management fees. You have to ask the question why, when they've got $60m in term investments."
