Steinbach MLA and Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Kelvin Goertzen, announced that consultations are underway for ideas and improvements to ensure the long-term sustainability of the province’s health-care system and Manitobans are being reminded of the opportunity to share their views before the survey closes on Dec. 14.
“Spending on health care in Manitoba is more than $6 billion each year, which is more than 46 per cent of the provincial budget, and this level of spending is not sustainable in the long-term,” said Goertzen. “Every day, thousands of Manitobans use our health-care system. I want to hear their ideas on how we can make our system more efficient and effective.”
The Manitoba government is working with the George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation to administer public and health-care provider surveys as part of the Health Care Sustainability and Innovation Review.
The review is assessing 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.
“An average hospital stay costs $6,152. Dialysis services for one patient can cost between $95,000 and $107,000 a year. With costs like these, we need to identify our priorities and make responsible, targeted investments,” said Goertzen. “We want to hear directly from the people affected most – Manitobans – about what they think is needed to make our health-care system stronger.”
The survey feedback will be used to inform the recommendations of the review, the minister said, adding an initial report is expected by the end of January 2017.
To take the survey before Dec. 14, visit www.gov.mb.ca/health/haveyoursay.
