Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen says he is already working on a plan to try and reduce waiting times in hospital emergency rooms and for other medical procedures and treatments. He notes this is one of the priorities established by the Premier in a letter to him that outlines expectations for this term in government.

"There are a lot of things that are going to be happening in terms of wait times. I'm happy to see that in the mandate letter. We will strike a task force that will look at the E-R wait times and other wait times more generally across the system. That will take a little while to form. We've been talking about having that operational by the fall. But there are also things that are happening in between there."

The other initiatives he is referring to include reviews within the health care system to look for innovations and sustainability. Goertzen says recommendations from these reviews will be brought forward to the task force which will be expected to report back to him by early next year.

Goertzen adds another priority set for him by the Premier is to improve doctor recruitment and retention and another task force will work on that challenge.

"We do think there are better ways to do it. Other provinces have had more success than we've had and that particular task force will give us some good ideas in terms of best practices. I'm not going to suggest that there's going to be a silver bullet solution but I think there are things that can move us in the right direction."

Goertzen says he appreciates the mandate letter from Premier Brian Pallister because it gives him a very clear sense of direction on what is expected from him as Minister of Health, Seniors and Active Living.