Health care cuts and spending still remains a hot topic amongst many Manitobans.

One source of spending that’s has been hidden and is now really being questioned, is the cost of agency nursing and locum doctors.

Dr. Jon Gerrard, Liberal MLA and Health Critic, heard this in several communities and brought it up at Question Period.

“I asked Minister Goertzen why so much money was being spent on agency nurses and locum doctors when they should be using people who are trained locally, particularly for nurses. I also included a reference to the fact that when I was in Grandview, I heard of (agency) nurses being given taxi fare all the way from Winnipeg to Grandview in order to come out and fill spots.”

He also heard that they were being paid lucrative amounts for accommodations, mileage and meals.

Gerrard gave a number of what he heard one health region spent in 2016 on agency nurses, locum doctors and overtime staff.

“You know I wasn’t able to get any specific numbers but what I do know is that it’s a considerable amount. I was given a number when I was in Grandview of $7.26 million dollars for the Prairie Mountain Health Region alone.  I know from the discussions we had in other communities, particularly northern Manitoba, that there is a very large amount of use of agency nurses and locum doctors.”

Gerrard feels this would have been the first place to cut back on.