Manitoba's Health Minister has instructed officials in the department to investigate an American mobile health clinic offering tests in Steinbach and other Manitoba communities.

Access Health Imaging of North Dakota has been renting hotel rooms in Steinbach and elsewhere in the province to offer a heart test called an echocardiogram. It charges $399 for a cardiac sonographer to do the test which is then analyzed by a cardiologist in North Dakota. Clients are promised they will receive a report in two to three weeks.

In response to our request for an interview, Health Minister Cameron Friesen issued a written statement in which he says the Health Department will investigate the matter. He adds the province hired seven sonographers this spring to help reduce a waiting list for echocardiograms. The waiting period for the test had stretched to more than a year at some hospitals. Friesen notes the additional specialists will enable the province to offer a further 7,000 such tests each year.