Manitoba spends among the highest amounts per capita on health care compared to the other provinces. The Canadian Institute for Health Information released data last week showing Manitoba spends an average of $7,200 per person, per year, on health care. The national average is $6,600. Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen says he is not surprised by the numbers.

"That's certainly been the case for the last number of years. Manitoba has historically been in the top two or three when it comes to per capita spending on health. A lot of that has to do 

2017 11 kelvin goertzen
Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen  with chronic disease. Often, dialysis as a result of diabetes and kidney failure is a significant part of that and so there are a lot of costs associated with chronic disease."

Goertzen says the Progressive Conservative Government is continuing to review health care spending.

"It's certainly something that we've been talking about, those health care costs. We want to make sure that people have the services that they need and are getting the treatment that they need, but we also need to ensure that the health care system is sustainable. So how do we find those savings over the long run? Looking at that report, when they project out a couple of years, they do expect that, in terms of the rankings and per capita spending, that Manitoba will drop back a little bit, more in line with some of the other provinces."

He reiterates the province is continuing to work on making sure that it's getting value for the money spent on health care, but also to make sure that when our children and grandchildren need the health care system, it will be there for them as well.