When asked about the possibility of private sector funding, Health Minister Simeon Brown told the Otago Daily Times the government was open "to a range of funding and financing options" to get the hospital’s inpatient building done.
But a local MP and health advocates warn privatising the build could hike costs to the detriment of taxpayers and patients.
During question time in the House on Wednesday, Taieri Green MP Scott Willis asked Associate Health Minister Casey Costello if funding the project through government borrowing would be a faster, simpler, less expensive and less risky option than a public-private partnership (PPP).
Ms Costello answered "no".
Speaking to the ODT afterwards, Mr Willis said he was concerned by Ms Costello’s answers.
"I think what’s clear is that absolutely nothing is clear with this government."
Achieving that was now looking "virtually impossible" due to resets, delays and the probable loss of key staff, Mr Willis said.
From what had been said so far, it looked as though the government was leaning towards a PPP.
"It’s all looking as though they are in a really tight spot and they are trying to give themselves wriggle room."
Contracting the build under a PPP would mean developers would be expecting to either own it and lease it, or be paid back at a future point that would allow the government to keep it off the books, but would cost more.
It could also mean less funds available for further investment in health, and other areas such as education and housing, Mr Willis said.
Mr Brown said Mr Willis was speculating, and the government was "getting on" with the new Dunedin hospital project.
It was his expectation the project would be delivered within the $1.88b funding envelope.
Asked if the government had completely ruled out a PPP, Mr Brown said it was open to a range of options.
"Patients receiving surgery aren’t worried about who owns the building they are receiving treatment in. They just want their healthcare delivered as quickly as possible."
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists chief executive Sarah Dalton agreed the last thing on patients’ minds was who owned the building.
"But we need to be really clear that the actual cost of providing that building, if it’s done through a PPP, is likely to be more expensive for taxpayers in the long run.
"While the patient having the care delivered is not bothered, the people missing out on care because the money has run out will have a very different view."
Mr Brown seemed "hell-bent" on pushing health workers and infrastructure out of the public sector, she said.
"And that’s a real concern for us."
New Zealand Nurses Organisation president Anne Daniels said the majority of New Zealanders could not afford private healthcare and PPPs were "just unacceptable in every which way you look at it".
"The further we go down this track, the less likely people are to be able to access healthcare and the more likely they are to have poor outcomes," Ms Daniels said.
"This is not about providing profit for overseas organisations, this is about actually having a public healthcare system that everybody knows they can access where and when they need it."
