• CTF to post waiting times on website, calls on province to do the
• CTF calls for a value for money audit of health care system

Manitoba waiting lists

WINNIPEG: Documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) show hospital waiting lists have ballooned since 1999.

"In the past two years alone the NDP government has increased the health care budget by more than $400 million, yet patients are not seeing waiting lists shrink," stated Provincial Director Adrienne Batra. "While we hear the predictable rhetoric from Health Minister Dave Chomiak that his government has invested in health care since 1999, patients are waiting 12 weeks for a CT scan, which is more than double the wait time from four years ago."

According to the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, waiting times for elective procedures breaks down as follows:

"Since their election in 1999 the NDP has propped up health spending by $1 billion, but the horror stories continue. It is time for this government to show taxpayers exactly where the money is going by conducting a full value for money audit of our health care system and posting waiting times," added Batra.

"Our healthcare system is not sustainable over the long term and there is no mechanism of accountability for the dollars being spent. Without the ability to choose and giving patients an alternative, waiting lists will continue to grow putting more pressure on an already strained system," concluded Batra.

The provincial government in Alberta announced earlier this summer a plan to launch a website to post waiting lists for medical procedures.

Manitoba's wait lists will be post at www.taxpayer.com