However, local health advocacy group Health Action Wānaka believes the Upper Clutha has been left clean off the radar when it comes to public investment.
HNZ has started its planning stages to determine what publicly funded clinical services are required for the Central Otago and Queenstown regions.
It will release a plan by December.
Minister of Health Simeon Brown said the plan would decide the "right mix of services", how they were delivered and where they were located.
"We expect Health New Zealand to work with private providers to maximise healthcare delivery and reduce wait times, so patients receive the surgeries they need, such as hip and knee replacements and cataract removals."
Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Glyn Lewers said while everyone had to wait for the plan to be delivered, logistics suggested the privately built, public hospital would likely be built in Queenstown, where the population warranted it.
"There has to be an uplift in hospital services, be it in Wānaka, Cromwell or Queenstown.
"It probably is [Queenstown] as there is a population base, a construction market there, things like medical gases, building, air conditioning and services, there are people here that can do that," he said.
Mr Lewers is part of an initial working group, the Southern Lakes Health Trust, which includes himself, Central Otago District Mayor Tamah Alley, and local MPs Joseph Mooney and Miles Anderson. The group has been working on a regional deal since 2023.
Health Action Wānaka released a joint statement about the proposed plan questioning who the regional deal was for and privatisation of the Queenstown hospital.
"Who would such a hospital be fit for purpose for? The community or its private investors?
"Building a privately financed regional hospital in Queenstown is not a regional solution, it’s a Queenstown solution," spokeswoman Monique Mayze said.
The group was concerned if the regional hospital was built in Queenstown, it could see the closure of Dunstan Hospital in Clyde, and publicly funded services delivered out of Queenstown.
"It doesn’t seem right to close a publicly owned asset only to build a privately owned hospital in the same town."
Neither local nor central government have indicated closing already standing infrastructure.
Ms Mayze argued it made no sense to locate the region’s publicly funded hospital-level services in Queenstown as it already had two hospitals with unused capacity.
Mr Lewers said local and central government had been in contact with the two private entities in Wānaka and Queenstown, and the services plan would decide how public money would be spent across those.
The Southern Lakes trust had advocated to the government to get behind the privately funded builds to service the region.
"We could see all this private investment coming, and with government we are down the rung when it comes to priority in investing in healthcare publicly," Mr Lewers said.
"We said ‘here is an opportunity, government — you are going to have private investors building infrastructure anyway. How about we get some public services inside these private entities?’."
A $300million private hospital planned for Wānaka, with four operating theatres and a 24-hour emergency department, has been given the green light.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council has granted the project resource consent using discretionary powers that mean no hearing is required.
The Wānaka Health Precinct consists of a 72-bed, 6300sqm hospital, supported by four purpose-designed buildings for allied medical services, and construction will begin early next year.
A spokesperson for the hospital said it was open to improving public services.
"The Wānaka Health Precinct joint venture partners are very open to scenarios where public health services are delivered from this site, but those decisions are not ours to make. At this stage, all we can do is offer up our willingness to accommodate public health services."
Southland MP Mr Mooney reiterated the privately owned hospitals would be fully utilised in the services plan, and for public use.
"The solution we want is to how to improve these services and expand what they are doing. Before a date can be set, the plan needs to be in place."
The plan would not favour any part of the region, and he did not believe Wānaka was being left out of plans by the working group, HNZ or private investors.
"I don’t think Wānaka has been left off at all — I know Health New Zealand are very aware of Wānaka and its growing population and its needs, as they are of Queenstown and the surrounding townships."
The trust had mapped out a path for HNZ to work with, including making sure the correct statistics were used for the growth trajectory of the area, he said.
Formerly, HNZ was using inaccurate government statistics, which predicted a growth of only 1.7% per annum, instead of the local council’s 20% per annum.
Waitaki MP Mr Anderson said Wānaka would not be left off HNZ’s radar.
"With a co-ordinated regional approach, the availability of public health services can be improved for Wānaka, Queenstown, Cromwell, Alexandra and Central Otago communities."
HNZ had been in discussions with the private health providers to assess whether public health services could be incorporated within their facilities, he said.
"I am advocating for collaboration between private providers and Health NZ to incorporate public health services in current or planned private facilities where possible."
Ms Alley was not advocating for the hospital to be built in Cromwell or more added to Dunstan Hospital in Clyde. She said the statistics would decide for them.
"We know that our areas are growing at an exponential rate and there might be some anomalies of what comes out of the plan on where the services are required.
"I think that anything shorter than the current trips we undertake is a win for our people.
"There are a number of private facilities looking to come anyway.
"I would love to see public funding go into increasing services right across the region — it may be Dunstan or it may be enhancing what Dunstan does and recognising we may need something in Cromwell."
No date has been set for the Wānaka or Queenstown private builds.
