Riga is the health care centre of Latvia. To improve health care, the Latvian health insurance system was established in 1997. The state guaranteed primary and secondary level health care is financed through general health insurance plan.

The best Latvian tertiary care and special medical institutions are located in Riga, such as the State Hospital Gailezers, Paula Stradina State Hospital, Riga Traumatology Institute, and Children's Hospital all with modern medical technology. Private specialized health care institutions are gradually developing, using foreign technologies and highly qualified specialists  (see Table 32).

Well developed primary and secondary health care institutions and a network consisting of State, municipal and private health care organizations and pharmacies serve Riga's residents. The most rapidly developing private medical institutions are those that are not covered by the guaranteed health care coverage - dentistry and microsurgery, for example.

Since 1998 Riga City Council allocates for health care projects 15-20% of the financial resources included in Capital Investment Programme. Most of these resources are aimed at the repair of hospitals and purchasing new medical equipment. One of the largest projects financed by the City was the construction of the Urgent Medical Care Station that was put into operation in 1999. Total project costs amounted to 5 million USD.