Grants a ‘great result’

THE Southern District Health Board has an extra $7.2 million in its coffers after receiving two grants from the Government for Covid19 recovery.

Chief executive Chris Fleming said the funding was welcome news, although the board would need to find additional operational expenditure utilise the money.

It has received $5.9 million in capital funding and $1.3 million in innovation funding, which Mr Fleming said was significantly more than the board would have

to received if funding was determined on a population basis.

The capital expenditure was tagged to a range of initiatives, which included an extra CR scanner at Dunedin Hospital, a fifth operating theatre for Southland Hospital, and respiratory equipment.

The innovation funding was to be spent on patient prioritisation tools, telehealth, direct access to imaging for primary care, and developments in endocrinology and rheumatology.

‘‘This is a great result for Southern and will provide an opportunity to make some real improvements in these targeted areas,’’ Mr Fleming said.