The Lakes District Health Board is continuing to refuse to sign the Health Ministry's Crown Funding Agreement.
Board members voted unanimously today at an emergency board meeting to resist Government pressure to sign the agreement which determines what services the board's hospital arm, Lakeland Health, will provide and at what price for the 2001/02 financial year.
Unanswered questions over how Lakeland would be funded and a lack of response from the ministry to a joint study that concluded Lakeland was under-funded by about $6 million a year were sufficient grounds for not signing, Lakes DHB funding and contracts general manager John Shapleski advised the board.
Negotiations between the ministry and the District Health Boards New Zealand Reference Group, the organisation appointed by health boards to negotiate with the ministry on their behalf, were also incomplete, leaving a number of issues unresolved.
The deadline for boards to sign their respective agreements was initially July 31 but the Lakes board was granted an extension until August 10.
It is not known what action the ministry might take if the agreement is not signed by this time.
Mr Shapleski said "inter-regional flows" of patients between health board areas, the high volume of orthopaedic cases and blood costs were specific areas where revenue could fall under the proposal.
Board chairman Alan Vane said he agreed with delaying.
"This is a matter which requires very careful thought and consideration. We shouldn't rush into it," he said.
- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)
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