The Hawke's Bay District Health Board estimates the cost of the nurses' strike in July was $28,272.
Almost half of the spend, $12,400, was spent on additional GPs, nurses and administration staff to work in accident and medical clinics.
Nurses who went on strike were not paid, but those who did not strike were paid at the normal rates. Other staff were paid in accordance with their employment agreement.
More than 30,000 members of the New Zealand Nurses' Organisation (NZNO), including nurses, midwives and health care assistants, took to the streets from 7am on July 12 to 7am on July 13 after rejecting the district health boards' revised pay offer of 9 per cent for all member nurses by August 2019.
Before the strike about 1573 hours were spent on contingency planning.