Calgary To Welcome Saskatchewan Surgery Patients Worries Alberta Doctors

This week, Saskatchewan’s health minister announced the province will temporarily commission a private clinic in Calgary in the fall to perform 20-25 knee and hip replacement surgeries a month, although the government will not cover travel costs. “This option would be offered to patients, on an entirely voluntary basis, who have been waiting longer for joint replacement procedures while work continues to accelerate expansion plans at public and private facilities in Saskatchewan,” the Saskatchewan Health Authority told CBC News Saskatchewan. He declined to name the Calgary facilities in question, saying further details will be announced once contracts are finalized. “My reaction is mostly sadness because it’s obviously a move of sheer desperation,” said Dr. John Fernandez, a family physician and office-based surgical specialist at Northwest Surgical Clinic in Calgary. “None of this is manageable in any way. What is going to happen is that for every patient that comes from Saskatchewan, there is potentially a patient from Alberta that is not going to have access to this type of surgery.” He noted Alberta also faces similar issues and often has to refer patients out of province for surgeries. The Alberta government says the “small number of surgeries involved” in the Saskatchewan contract should have no impact on efforts to reduce Alberta’s surgery waiting list. Just under 72,000 adults are awaiting the procedures in Alberta. “Alberta was aware that Saskatchewan issued a request for proposal late last year seeking contracts with charter surgery centers in Canada. However, Alberta Health was not aware that an Alberta facility would fulfill this contract,” said a statement from the office of Health Minister Jason Copping. He added that Saskatchewan is communicating with Alberta about the next initiative.

Staff shortages, surgeon availability are a concern

Dr. Anthony Gomes, head of general surgery at the Alberta Medical Association, explained that patients undergoing private surgery are usually covered by employer or workers’ compensation, not from the public waiting list. But he said the demand for surgeons, OR nurses and anesthesiologists could have an impact on Alberta patients. “It takes surgeons away from work they could be doing in public hospitals,” he said. “Our system doesn’t have the resources to deal with the number of patients who need procedures.” The Alberta government also outsources procedures to chartered surgical facilities to reduce delays, but only within the province. Some specialized procedures not available in Alberta, such as for rare cancers, are routinely referred to other provinces. Copping’s office says the total number of orthopedic and eye surgeries completed this fiscal year will be 44 percent higher than last year, reducing pandemic backlogs. More than 87,000 surgeries have been completed between April and August.
These contracting strategies, according to Fernandes, point to a health care system in desperate need of reform. “It is becoming increasingly clear that there is no solution with the current design of our health care system and it will collapse in different sectors, like a stack of dominoes.” Gomes agreed that something needs to change to effectively reduce wait times for necessary surgeries. “There has to be some long-term thinking and long-term investment. And it has to be aligned with patient needs.”

title: “Calgary To Welcome Saskatchewan Surgery Patients Worries Alberta Doctors Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-23” author: “Regina Baird”

This week, Saskatchewan’s health minister announced the province will temporarily commission a private clinic in Calgary in the fall to perform 20-25 knee and hip replacement surgeries a month, although the government will not cover travel costs. “This option would be offered to patients, on an entirely voluntary basis, who have been waiting longer for joint replacement procedures while work continues to accelerate expansion plans at public and private facilities in Saskatchewan,” the Saskatchewan Health Authority told CBC News Saskatchewan. He declined to name the Calgary facilities in question, saying further details will be announced once contracts are finalized. “My reaction is mostly sadness because it’s obviously a move of sheer desperation,” said Dr. John Fernandez, a family physician and office-based surgical specialist at Northwest Surgical Clinic in Calgary. “None of this is manageable in any way. What is going to happen is that for every patient that comes from Saskatchewan, there is potentially a patient from Alberta that is not going to have access to this type of surgery.” He noted Alberta also faces similar issues and often has to refer patients out of province for surgeries. The Alberta government says the “small number of surgeries involved” in the Saskatchewan contract should have no impact on efforts to reduce Alberta’s surgery waiting list. Just under 72,000 adults are awaiting the procedures in Alberta. “Alberta was aware that Saskatchewan issued a request for proposal late last year seeking contracts with charter surgery centers in Canada. However, Alberta Health was not aware that an Alberta facility would fulfill this contract,” said a statement from the office of Health Minister Jason Copping. He added that Saskatchewan is communicating with Alberta about the next initiative.

Staff shortages, surgeon availability are a concern

Dr. Anthony Gomes, head of general surgery at the Alberta Medical Association, explained that patients undergoing private surgery are usually covered by employer or workers’ compensation, not from the public waiting list. But he said the demand for surgeons, OR nurses and anesthesiologists could have an impact on Alberta patients. “It takes surgeons away from work they could be doing in public hospitals,” he said. “Our system doesn’t have the resources to deal with the number of patients who need procedures.” The Alberta government also outsources procedures to chartered surgical facilities to reduce delays, but only within the province. Some specialized procedures not available in Alberta, such as for rare cancers, are routinely referred to other provinces. Copping’s office says the total number of orthopedic and eye surgeries completed this fiscal year will be 44 percent higher than last year, reducing pandemic backlogs. More than 87,000 surgeries have been completed between April and August.
These contracting strategies, according to Fernandes, point to a health care system in desperate need of reform. “It is becoming increasingly clear that there is no solution with the current design of our health care system and it will collapse in different sectors, like a stack of dominoes.” Gomes agreed that something needs to change to effectively reduce wait times for necessary surgeries. “There has to be some long-term thinking and long-term investment. And it has to be aligned with patient needs.”

title: “Calgary To Welcome Saskatchewan Surgery Patients Worries Alberta Doctors Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-15” author: “Sharon West”

This week, Saskatchewan’s health minister announced the province will temporarily commission a private clinic in Calgary in the fall to perform 20-25 knee and hip replacement surgeries a month, although the government will not cover travel costs. “This option would be offered to patients, on an entirely voluntary basis, who have been waiting longer for joint replacement procedures while work continues to accelerate expansion plans at public and private facilities in Saskatchewan,” the Saskatchewan Health Authority told CBC News Saskatchewan. He declined to name the Calgary facilities in question, saying further details will be announced once contracts are finalized. “My reaction is mostly sadness because it’s obviously a move of sheer desperation,” said Dr. John Fernandez, a family physician and office-based surgical specialist at Northwest Surgical Clinic in Calgary. “None of this is manageable in any way. What is going to happen is that for every patient that comes from Saskatchewan, there is potentially a patient from Alberta that is not going to have access to this type of surgery.” He noted Alberta also faces similar issues and often has to refer patients out of province for surgeries. The Alberta government says the “small number of surgeries involved” in the Saskatchewan contract should have no impact on efforts to reduce Alberta’s surgery waiting list. Just under 72,000 adults are awaiting the procedures in Alberta. “Alberta was aware that Saskatchewan issued a request for proposal late last year seeking contracts with charter surgery centers in Canada. However, Alberta Health was not aware that an Alberta facility would fulfill this contract,” said a statement from the office of Health Minister Jason Copping. He added that Saskatchewan is communicating with Alberta about the next initiative.

Staff shortages, surgeon availability are a concern

Dr. Anthony Gomes, head of general surgery at the Alberta Medical Association, explained that patients undergoing private surgery are usually covered by employer or workers’ compensation, not from the public waiting list. But he said the demand for surgeons, OR nurses and anesthesiologists could have an impact on Alberta patients. “It takes surgeons away from work they could be doing in public hospitals,” he said. “Our system doesn’t have the resources to deal with the number of patients who need procedures.” The Alberta government also outsources procedures to chartered surgical facilities to reduce delays, but only within the province. Some specialized procedures not available in Alberta, such as for rare cancers, are routinely referred to other provinces. Copping’s office says the total number of orthopedic and eye surgeries completed this fiscal year will be 44 percent higher than last year, reducing pandemic backlogs. More than 87,000 surgeries have been completed between April and August.
These contracting strategies, according to Fernandes, point to a health care system in desperate need of reform. “It is becoming increasingly clear that there is no solution with the current design of our health care system and it will collapse in different sectors, like a stack of dominoes.” Gomes agreed that something needs to change to effectively reduce wait times for necessary surgeries. “There has to be some long-term thinking and long-term investment. And it has to be aligned with patient needs.”

title: “Calgary To Welcome Saskatchewan Surgery Patients Worries Alberta Doctors Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-07” author: “Howard Darosa”

This week, Saskatchewan’s health minister announced the province will temporarily commission a private clinic in Calgary in the fall to perform 20-25 knee and hip replacement surgeries a month, although the government will not cover travel costs. “This option would be offered to patients, on an entirely voluntary basis, who have been waiting longer for joint replacement procedures while work continues to accelerate expansion plans at public and private facilities in Saskatchewan,” the Saskatchewan Health Authority told CBC News Saskatchewan. He declined to name the Calgary facilities in question, saying further details will be announced once contracts are finalized. “My reaction is mostly sadness because it’s obviously a move of sheer desperation,” said Dr. John Fernandez, a family physician and office-based surgical specialist at Northwest Surgical Clinic in Calgary. “None of this is manageable in any way. What is going to happen is that for every patient that comes from Saskatchewan, there is potentially a patient from Alberta that is not going to have access to this type of surgery.” He noted Alberta also faces similar issues and often has to refer patients out of province for surgeries. The Alberta government says the “small number of surgeries involved” in the Saskatchewan contract should have no impact on efforts to reduce Alberta’s surgery waiting list. Just under 72,000 adults are awaiting the procedures in Alberta. “Alberta was aware that Saskatchewan issued a request for proposal late last year seeking contracts with charter surgery centers in Canada. However, Alberta Health was not aware that an Alberta facility would fulfill this contract,” said a statement from the office of Health Minister Jason Copping. He added that Saskatchewan is communicating with Alberta about the next initiative.

Staff shortages, surgeon availability are a concern

Dr. Anthony Gomes, head of general surgery at the Alberta Medical Association, explained that patients undergoing private surgery are usually covered by employer or workers’ compensation, not from the public waiting list. But he said the demand for surgeons, OR nurses and anesthesiologists could have an impact on Alberta patients. “It takes surgeons away from work they could be doing in public hospitals,” he said. “Our system doesn’t have the resources to deal with the number of patients who need procedures.” The Alberta government also outsources procedures to chartered surgical facilities to reduce delays, but only within the province. Some specialized procedures not available in Alberta, such as for rare cancers, are routinely referred to other provinces. Copping’s office says the total number of orthopedic and eye surgeries completed this fiscal year will be 44 percent higher than last year, reducing pandemic backlogs. More than 87,000 surgeries have been completed between April and August.
These contracting strategies, according to Fernandes, point to a health care system in desperate need of reform. “It is becoming increasingly clear that there is no solution with the current design of our health care system and it will collapse in different sectors, like a stack of dominoes.” Gomes agreed that something needs to change to effectively reduce wait times for necessary surgeries. “There has to be some long-term thinking and long-term investment. And it has to be aligned with patient needs.”