Manitoba's Premier is calling it the largest health care commitment in the history of our province.

Brian Pallister, along with Manitoba's Chief Nursing Officer Lanette Siragusa announced that new, expanded and renovated health-care facilities will support improved access and better care for all Manitobans with investment in communities across the province

"Better health care for all Manitobans, with reduced wait times and improved access with more services closer to home, requires a bold vision and action plan for a stronger, more prosperous province," says Pallister. "Together, we are planning for that future, for our children and our grandchildren, by listening to our public health-care leaders and the ideas of our doctors, nurses and other health professionals, and investing in solutions that are made-in-Manitoba for Manitobans."

Today's announcement includes a provincial capital investment of an estimated $812 million for approximately 38 projects, including new facilities, as well as renovations and expansions to existing infrastructure. Together, these projects will form the foundation of Manitoba's new Provincial Clinical Network, a system of health services that will improve access and enhance the quality and reliability of care while reducing provincial wait times. The clinical network will also reduce the need for many Manitobans to travel long distances for care by providing more services in a community closer to home.

This includes a new $283-million, two-storey hospital to be built in Portage la Prairie, offering more inpatient beds, expanded medicine and surgical capacity, and an improved emergency department to serve the area and many Southern Health–Santé Sud communities as part of Manitoba’s ongoing commitment to improving health care services, according to Premier Brian Pallister.

The new hospital will be at least double the size of the existing facility and is expected to include:
• a minimum of 90 acute care inpatient beds;
• increased day surgery capacity so more patients can have procedures performed without needing to travel to Winnipeg, Brandon or elsewhere in the health region;
• an expanded emergency department designed to best practice standards that include treatment and assessment rooms, a trauma room, stretcher bay and an ambulance bay; and
• enhanced space for a number of programs including diagnostics, dialysis, palliative care and various outpatient services which include lab and rehabilitation.

Construction of the new hospital is expected to be complete in 2025.

These investments have been identified as part of Manitoba's Clinical and Preventive Services Plan, Pallister adds. Released in November 2019, the plan was developed and led by clinical leaders and health system experts from across the province. Detailed planning has looked at population growth and community health needs, distance to specialized 24/7 health services, and the stability and reliability of the province's health workforce.

"This is an investment in the equipment, buildings, technology and health-care professionals that will improve outcomes and better support the needs of all Manitobans," says Siragusa. "In emergencies, it's going to mean reliable access to care with hospital-based and emergency response services that can be counted on when you need them. For rural and northern communities, it's going to mean greater access to health services locally, with increased in-home care and other supports that will reduce the need for travel and support Manitobans at home, or in the community, for longer."