The Whanganui District Health Board has spent over its budget this year - but has been given a reprieve by central government.
General manager corporate Brian Walden says the health board's current spending deficit sits at $701,000 and is expected to go to anywhere from $1 million to $1.5 million due to higher than expected staff costs and clinical supply needs.
However, board chair Dot McKinnon said yesterday that they had been given a reprieve by the Ministry of Health and would be allowed to incur a deficit of $1 million by the end of the financial year in June.
She was hopeful that would not be required and that the board would have the debt settled by June.
She said the decision reflected the confidence the ministry had in the board and that it understood there had been "a lot going on this year" for Whanganui DHB.