5 'quick care' clinics to open in 2011

Premier Greg Selinger outlined details today of his throne speech promise to ensure every Manitoban has a family doctor by 2015.

Selinger said five quick-care clinics will open next year across the province, with more to follow.

The clinics will be open for extended hours, and will be staffed by nurse practitioners who can prescribe drugs and perform other duties normally done by physicians.

Selinger said the clinics, along with new efficiencies in the way family doctors schedule appointments, will free up family doctors to see more patients.

"We think by organizing services better we can give more access to existing doctors for people that don't have access now. That's why we talked about the role of rapid access. That allows the same doctor to see more patients," Selinger told CBC News.

The opposition has called Selinger's promise a desperate attempt to shore up support before next year's election, but Selinger said the plan will work and everyone who wants a family doctor will have one.