Manitoba's NDP government is hoping to take some of the pressure off the health care system by creating 18 new positions for nurse practitioners around the province.

Nurse practitioners are different from "regular" nurses because they can do some things doctors do, such as write certain prescriptions, order and receive diagnostic tests and perform minor surgical procedures, such as sutures.

"They're the way of the future," said Health Minister Theresa Oswald. "They work in a collaborative way. They work in a way that they can spend extended periods of time with patients who may have complex needs — and we've seen incredible success with that."

One of the new positions will be at Siloam Mission and Resource Assistance for Youth, a drop-in centre in the inner city, and will involve providing care to the homeless and street youth who might not otherwise have access to such services.

Garth Reesor, chief operating officer at Siloam Mission, said the decision to provide a nurse practitioner is a recognition that the mainstream medical system often does not meet the needs of the poor.

"This says we need to provide it where they are, in a way they understand and can relate to," he said.

Two of the other positions will cover the regions served by the Brandon, Northern Manitoba, Parklands and South Eastman health authorities. Burntwood and North Eastman will each add one nurse practitioner, as will the nursing station in Grand Rapids. Six others will work in Winnipeg.

The 18 new positions, which will cost about $1.8 million, bring to 76 the total number of provincially funded nurse practitioners working in Manitoba's community health centres, emergency rooms, clinics, personal-care homes and other health care settings.

Oswald said most of the new positions will be filled by the next graduating class, but others will have to recruited from outside the province.