Manitoba is heading towards a universal newborn hearing screening program.
Health minister Sharon Blady says the Universal Newborn Hearing Screening Act comes into effect September 1, 2016.
The program will be expanded to cover each health region, with services coming to Dauphin's hospital, three hospitals in Southern Health, two in northern health, one in the Interlake, and St. Boniface and the Birth Centre in Winnipeg.
The province says it's investing more than $3-million in new funding.
Hearing screening services are currently offered at the Brandon Regional Health Centre, in Winnipeg neonatal intensive care units for infants at high risk of hearing loss, and for most babies born at the Thompson General Hospital.
