Dr Harbutt, along with Auckland chartered accountant Don Carnachan and a group of Auckland surgeons led by Dr Warwick Macky, set about establishing the organisation that would eventually become Southern Cross Medical Care Society, which was officially founded in May 1961.
Throughout the 1960s, Southern Cross’ growth was modest, but during 1970s it grew rapidly, putting pressure on private hospitals for more beds, theatre facilities and improved equipment and care.
In the 2021 financial year, for every $1 of premium income, 87 cents was returned to members in claims for healthcare treatment.
[citation needed] The Southern Cross Health Trust is a Charitable Trust and owns: Southern Cross Healthcare, established in 1979, is New Zealand's largest private hospital and healthcare network, with 24 wholly owned and joint-venture facilities that provided private healthcare services to 86,000 patients in wholly owned hospitals, JV hospitals and endoscopy clinics in the year to June 2019.
Its charitable activities include making its hospitals' facilities, medical supplies and theatre staff available free-of-charge for charitable surgeries; funding a free mobile dental clinic that operates in the upper North Island; and supporting the New Zealand Dental Association, Dove Hospice and cancer support group Sweet Louise.