Steinbach MLA and Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Kelvin Goertzen, recently announced that KPMG LLP has been awarded the contract for the Health Care Sustainability and Innovation Review.

“The reality is the finances of the health-care system in Manitoba and many other provinces are not sustainable in their current state,” said Goertzen. “While there has been work done to find efficiencies in some areas, we need to look at the system as a whole and find ways to ensure that every tax dollar that is going into health is being used as effectively as possible. The status quo simply is not an option.”

The minister noted the review is timely in light of pending cuts to the Canada Health Transfer and renewed a call for a first ministers meeting with the prime minister to deal with the need to establish a long-term, predictable and flexible funding mechanism for health care.

The review will identify opportunities to eliminate waste and inefficiency, and improve the effectiveness and responsiveness of the entire health sector including government, the regional health authorities and their facilities, Diagnostic Services of Manitoba, Cancer Care Manitoba and the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, the minister said.

He noted the review is intended to assess spending against three criteria:

  • economy – are activities implemented at a reasonable cost including the consideration of quality, per capita costs and unit costs for service delivery;
  • efficiency – are the results appropriate when the investments are considered; and
  • effectiveness – do actual outcomes meet the expected outcomes.

The review will be completed in two phases, with an initial report expected by the end of January 2017, Goertzen said. The final report will provide concrete recommendations with implementation plans, timelines and estimates of the savings projected as a result of successful implementation, he added.

“Manitobans expect a system that improves their health and provides quality care while remaining cost-effective,” added Goertzen. “We anticipate the results of this review will make costs more sustainable in the long-term, while setting out better results and performance in the programs and services provided.”