A third medical school in the country, at the University of Waikato, appears all but set to proceed.
An internal Government document seen by the Otago Daily Times says Cabinet will receive a final paper by Thursday and make its decision on April 7.
The Cabinet paper would "seek agreement on the way forward for the establishment of a new medical school."
It said ministerial staff had held workshops with Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora and the University of Waikato to prepare for the next phase of work "pending Cabinet’s agreement to proceed".
"This has a strong focus on work required to prepare the process and documentation to be ready for community consultation on clinical placement locations."
Relevant ministers would be provided draft talking points and media releases next week.
Ministerial consultation on the proposal — which would likely see Waikato run a medical school based in Hamilton — began on March 11 and would wrap up today, it said.
"We are also working with the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and the Ministry of Education to agree updates requested by the Minister for Universities [Dr Shane Reti].
The proposed third medical school has proved controversial with the University of Auckland and University of Otago, who both provide New Zealand’s existing medical training. Both argue they can train more doctors more efficiently and effectively than establishing a new medical school.
Act New Zealand also demanded a "full cost-benefit analysis" as part of its coalition agreement with National.
Green MP Francisco Hernandez said the wording of the information made it seem like the new medical school was a fait accompli.
"This new information highlights the concerns we've had about the process from the beginning. The government appears to be trying to railroad a risky project at the behest of private lobbyists that could end up costing our communities more.
"Our country deserves thriving, well-resourced public services. This means investing in expanding medical training student capacity at tried and true providers like Otago and Auckland."
Earlier this month, the government announced it would boost the number of first-year students who could train to be doctors by 25, bringing the yearly intake for the two medical schools to 639 from next year.
In 2023, National campaigned on a third medical school, to be based at Waikato, to focus on training rural GPs.
Should it be approved, it would receive about $300 million in government funding to be ready for its first intake in 2027.
Dr Reti’s office forwarded requests for comment yesterday to Health Minister Simeon Brown.
Mr Brown said any decisions around the Waikato medical school "will be communicated in due course".
"The Ministry of Health has been in discussions with a range of stakeholders, including the universities of Otago and Auckland, as part of its work developing advice for the government on the proposed new medical school.
"Under the National-Act coalition agreement, a full cost-benefit analysis must be presented before any decision is made with respect to the Waikato medical school."
