The outgoing acting chief executive at Wellington's debt-plagued district health board says it could be back in the black in two years' time.
Shaun Drummond is the latest in a string of top executives to leave the Capital and Coast DHB for a job elsewhere.
He joined at a time of crisis for three years ago, and the board is still the country's most indebted, with a forecast deficit of $40 million this year.
Mr Drummond says it was naive of the board to expect energy savings from the construction of the new Wellington Regional Hospital, but with continued Government deficit funding it could be in the black before long.
He says the DHB should come in close to budget this year, and credits the involvement of senior clinicians in management with turning the organisation around.
