The latest reports describe the situation to the end of May, so are yet to calculate in full the financial year, which ended on June 30.
Yesterday, Health Minister Tony Ryall announced the Government had approved a one-off $10 million cash injection to help the DHB meet its costs.
"This is a one-off payment so the board can pay its day-to-day bills without always going into overdraft," he said in a press release.
The financial situation is likely to be a major talking point at both the hospital advisory committee today, and the full board meeting tomorrow.
The situation deteriorated significantly in the past month from an expected $10.2 million deficit, which was close to the original forecast deficit for 2011-12 of $10.17 million, acting finance and funding general manager David Dickson's report shows.
A key area of overspending is Otago medical staff (doctors), over budget nearly $4 million so far this year.
Spending on Southland doctors was also over budget, by $601,000.
Nursing costs in both Otago and Southland are less than expected so far this year, although Otago nursing was over budget in May.
The provider arm - the part of the board that delivers services - returned a $4.8 million deficit in May, partly due to paying for outsourcing to meet elective surgery targets for long-wait patients, senior business analyst Grant Paris's report shows.
The DHB receives special payments for meeting elective surgery targets, but these came at a cost in private-sector outsourcing.
The provider arm has a budgeted year-end $491,000 surplus, but year-to-date already has a $5.27 million deficit.
In contrast, the funding arm, which had been expected to return a big deficit, was doing much better than expected.
The funder, which contracts services out, was $4 million better year-to-date than expected, with a deficit of $6.2 million.
Helping this was $2 million underspending in mental health, and $3 million in NGO personal health (includes the Southern Primary Health Organisation, community pharmaceuticals, laboratory spending).
DHB Crown monitor Stuart McLauchlan, who has been appointed to help control the deficit, said when contacted yesterday the year started out well, but "slipped" in latter months.
Last year, one-off items resulted in DHB posting a $200,000 surplus rather than a projected $14.9 million deficit, but that would not be the case this year, he said.
The $200,000 surplus does not count $6.6 million the DHB received as deficit support from the Government.
Mr McLauchlan said restructuring the executive team, which took effect this week, was the start of making the DHB much more efficient.
Getting new chief executive Carole Heatly installed in March was the start of positive change, he said.
Through a spokesman, Ms Heatly said the DHB had undertaken a range of initiatives to cut costs, including providing more care in the community, rather than hospitals.
This week, health board meetings move from Dunedin Hospital to Wakari Hospital, as part of a reorganisation of functions at the two sites.
