Building work is yet to start on the $24.4 million upgrade of Dunedin and Wakari hospital facilities because the Minister of Health has not approved the Southern District Health Board budget for this year.
Major works to be covered by the money are the upgrade of the cramped neonatal intensive care unit and shifting Dunedin Hospital's acute mental health ward to Wakari Hospital.
Minister of Health Tony Ryall announced funding of almost $24.4 million for the project during a Dunedin visit in June.
The board's Dunedin-based chief operating officer, Vivian Blake, said recently the board had to meet a set of ministry criteria before it could formally begin and that included the minister signing off the board's district annual plan.
The board has had to rethink its finances for this year after Mr Ryall rejected a budget in July which showed an $18.4 million deficit with revenue of $802.1 million.
Board finance and funding general manager Robert Mackway-Jones said this week the board had re-submitted its budget with a $14.9 million deficit and was awaiting formal approval for this.
The board still had to come up with a plan to break even over four years and that was being worked on in consultation with the national health board.
Mrs Blake said tenders had been called for the acute mental health ward shift and it was hoped it could proceed rapidly once the approval was forthcoming.
The developments are part of the master site planning project designed to help overcome the difficulties posed by the gridlocked Dunedin Hospital site by shifting some services to Wakari Hospital.
One of the logistical difficulties with the project is its "Rubik's cube" nature whereby one shift inevitably necessitates another and parts are unable to be completed in isolation.
