WATERLOO -- Hospitals across the Waterloo-Wellington region are working on a plan to resume non-emergent, same-day surgeries after getting the all-clear from the province to gradually recommence elective procedures.
On Wednesday, the Ontario government rescinded its directive issued on April 20 for hospitals to cease all non-essential and elective services.
Lee Fairclough, the Regional Hospital Lead for COVID Response, says hospitals anticipate resuming eligible procedures as soon as feasible.
“We know the worry people are experiencing as they are waiting for surgeries,” Fairclough said in a statement. “We will be working together as a region to formulate a plan that balances resumption of these services with the care pressures of the third wave of COVID-19.”
For patients like Sarah Hunt from Cambridge, things are moving a little more quickly.
She received a call on Wednesday morning rescheduling a delayed procedure at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto to provide pain relief to her arms, caused by a rare form of nerve cancer.
“My arm just aches from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed,” said Hunt. “It’s always there and it’s exhausting and it affects a lot of your other quality of life.”
Hunt has had the surgery delayed multiple times as Intensive Care Units made room for the influx of COVID-19 patients.
Her procedure has been rescheduled multiple times already throughout the pandemic so she’s not prepared to get her hopes up just yet.
“I don’t look forward to the surgeries anymore because I know that they could still be cancelled," Hunt said. "My newest one is still a month out and so, there’s still a month between now and then for numbers to change and things to happen."
Fairclough says patients will be kept informed as things evolve and contacted for any pre-operative preparation that’s needed.
“As a region, we will continue to closely monitor COVID cases, and respond quickly,” said Fairclough. “It will take time to fully restore surgical and procedural care in our hospitals; but I am glad we’re at this point in the process.”
Balancing act
Dr. Asim Masood, the Chief of Staff of Cambridge Memorial Hospital, says the hospital could be ready as soon as Thursday to begin elective, same-day surgeries if all the necessary pieces are in place; however, a memo from Ontario Health maintains the priority for COVID care.
“We’ve been waiting and poised,” said Masood. “The tension now is to continue to have critical care capacity if and when we need it still, and also try to get procedures started again.”
Hospitals in the region have accumulated a significant backlog of elective procedures, with St. Mary’s General Hospital alone reporting a backlog of 2,007 procedures as of Wednesday.
Masood says clearing that waitlist won’t happen overnight.
“I mean, there are estimations around years is what people are saying, anywhere from two to three depending on your math, and that doesn’t include the new patients that would come online during those two years as well,” said Masood.
The backlog of elective procedures at Cambridge Memorial Hospital was last reported at approximately 2,600 – a number which Masood says is largely unchanged.
“We’re working behind the scene to see what additional capacity we can do,” said Masood. “Like weekends for example and not overburdening our staff, that’s the challenge.”
Both Masood and Fairclough say hospitals will look to start with surgeries that are not expected to require patients to stay overnight or use critical resources to maintain the ability to respond to increases in COVID-19 hospitalizations.
