The Manitoba Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) is located within the Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba. The mission of MCHP is to provide accurate and timely information to health care decision-makers, analysts and providers, so they can offer services which are effective and efficient in maintaining and improving the health of Manitobans. Our researchers rely upon the unique Population Health Research Data Repository to describe and explain pat- terns of care and profiles of illness, and to explore other factors that influence health, including income, education, employment and social status. This Repository is unique in terms of its comprehensiveness, degree of integration, and orientation around an anonymized population registry.

Members of MCHP consult extensively with government officials, health care administrators, and clinicians to develop a research agenda that is topi- cal and relevant. This strength along with its rigorous academic standards enable MCHP to contribute to the health policy process. MCHP under- takes several major research projects, such as this one, every year under con- tract to Manitoba Health. In addition, our researchers secure external fund- ing by competing for other research grants. We are widely published and internationally recognized. Further, our researchers collaborate with a number of highly respected scientists from Canada, the U.S. and Europe.

We thank the University of Manitoba, Faculty of Medicine, Health Research Ethics Board for their review of this project. The Manitoba Centre for Health Policy complies with all legislative acts and regulations governing the protection and use of sensitive information. We implement strict policies and procedures to protect the privacy and security of anonymized data used to produce this report and we keep the provincial Health Information Privacy Committee informed of all work undertaken for Manitoba Health.