How smart financing helps NZ healthcare providers upgrade essential technology.
Across New Zealand, healthcare providers are under serious pressure.
Radiology waitlists are blowing out, with nearly 9000 people waiting for scans in the Bay of Plenty alone – and millions being spent on outsourcing as providers grapple with equipment shortages and aging infrastructure.
Sean Coutts sees the impact of this every day. As Head of Healthcare at Speirs Finance, he works with healthcare leaders looking for practical ways to upgrade essential technology – without blowing their budgets. And with 60 years’ experience in specialised financial assistance for Kiwi businesses, Speirs Finance is now helping solve some of the most pressing challenges in our healthcare system.
He has seen how “tricky and difficult” it can be for all healthcare providers who need and want the latest, high-tech medical equipment for the best diagnoses and care for their patients. They often find themselves, however, caught in a cost versus care dilemma, understandable when an MRI scanner, for example, costs up to $2 million.
“You shouldn’t have to choose between financial stability and providing the best possible care for your patients. Yet that’s exactly the problem practices face across the country every day,” he says. “I see our role as providing solutions and access to financing options that respect the complexities they face while enabling better patient outcomes.”
There are solutions immediately at hand which can help mitigate vexing issues like wait times, access to top-level care and a healthcare system straining under real pressure. Speirs Finance can offer loans and lease-to-own financing but Coutts says outright leasing is also a “wonderful” solution.
Leasing is still underused in New Zealand’s healthcare sector, says Coutts – often because providers aren’t fully aware of how it can work for them. Many still default to outright purchase, which is understandable given the sector’s emphasis on long-term planning and asset ownership.
“Leasing enables healthcare professionals to get world-class technology for better patient outcomes – and that’s what it is all about – quickly and easily,” says Coutts.
He says an MRI scanner can cost up to $2 million – an amount that’s simply out of reach for many providers to fund upfront, even though clinical demand is constant. Leasing helps bridge that gap, giving patients faster access to diagnostic services and improving confidence in accurate diagnoses. Once operational, these machines can generate substantial monthly revenue, while lease repayments – often including maintenance – remain relatively modest. That predictability, Coutts says, helps protect cash flow and enables providers to plan ahead.
Another example: a hospital with a failing ultrasound system, earmarked for replacement in Q4 2026. These are of course essential for pregnant women and a failing system could pose a risk to mothers and unborn babies because of the possibility of misdiagnoses and breakdowns.
“That’s where leasing comes in,” says Coutts. “It can be so useful and get round this situation so easily. They can lease a new $200,000 ultrasound system now, including a two-year warranty, and get back to providing the best care for their patients.”
Michelle Herlihy, CEO of Speirs Finance Group, says: “Many healthcare providers have been constrained by the traditional model of purchasing equipment outright – placing enormous pressure on capital budgets and delaying the adoption of technology that could significantly improve patient outcomes. Our flexible financing removes these barriers.”
“By working alongside healthcare providers , we help them access the technology they need without compromising their financial stability, patients benefit through improved outcomes and more efficient care delivery. That’s exactly the kind of positive impact we want to have in New Zealand.”
The challenges facing New Zealand’s healthcare system are well documented, with recent reports highlighting equipment shortages, workforce pressures and growing waitlists. While smart financing won’t solve every issue, it gives healthcare leaders another lever to pull: one that can accelerate access to essential technology without derailing capital budgets.
The picture is even clearer after a 2022 analysis in the NZ Medical Journal which reported that:
- 70% of in-patient diagnoses involve imaging
- About 40% of emergency department interactions with patients involve a radiology exam.
- About 50% of outpatient or longer-term community care includes radiology at some point.
“What we are talking about,” says Coutts, “is a smart and agile way to procure the best medical tools to deliver the quality healthcare New Zealanders need.”
Speirs Finance’s approach extends across New Zealand’s entire healthcare system – from major hospitals and private practices to dental clinics, veterinary services, radiology centres, and specialist medical facilities. Speirs Finance works closely with equipment vendors and distributors, including major players like GE Healthcare, Siemens, and Philips, to create financing solutions that benefit both suppliers and end users.
More information: speirs.co.nz/healthcare