Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew has pledged to keep the province's main health lab public if his party is elected Tuesday.

Staff at the Cadham Provincial Laboratory provide screening and diagnostic information to doctors, as well as investigate outbreaks. The New Democrats estimate it costs $18 million each year to run the facility.

In June 2018, the provincial PC government announced the transfer of operations of the Cadham lab in Winnipeg to Shared Health.

Kinew said Thursday the Progressive Conservatives are moving toward a two-tiered health system by considering privatizing the lab and diagnostic imaging.

In a written statement to CBC News, a PC Party spokesperson called that claim "baseless."

"Cadham Provincial Laboratory's role in the public health system will be enhanced as part of system transformation," PC spokesperson Kevin Engstrom wrote.

Health has been the centre point of the NDP's campaign. Kinew has already promised to recruit, train and hire more nurses, add hospital beds and reopen two emergency rooms.

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