Manitoba government expands access to kidney dialysis in northern communities

The Manitoba government is providing $300,000 a year to expand access to kidney dialysis in northern Manitoba.

Health Minister Cameron Friesen says an additional 12 spaces are being added for dialysis patients at Dauphin Regional Health Centre through the hiring of two trained renal staff members.

That will expand weekly patient capacity to 36 from 24 starting March 1.

Friesen says that builds on spending that will add nearly 97,000 dialysis treatments a year in a number of communities including Winnipeg, Thompson, Swan River, Hodgson, Pine Falls, Portage la Prairie and at the Boundary Trails Health Centre in the Morden-Winkler area.