KITCHENER -- Hospitals in Ontario are preparing to resume surgeries and procedures put on hold due to COVID-19.

However, there are strict conditions that have to be met before patients can be rebooked and people are being warned it will take time.

Wanda Janaway has interstitial cystitis, a chronic bladder disease that would normally require her to travel to Guelph General Hospital every four weeks for a procedure that helps her manage the pain.

“I can’t get anything done because the pain is so severe,” she says.

It has been 11 weeks since her last treatment.

“These are procedures that people have to have done for their quality of life, and without them there is no quality of life,” Janaway says.

“We really acknowledge as people wait longer I’m sure that creates some worry for them and we're really grateful that people have been very patient,” says Lee Fairclough, president of St. Mary’s General Hospital and hospital lead for the Waterloo Wellington hospitals’ pandemic response.

Fairclough says as they prepare to resume postponed procedures and surgeries, they have to ensure they can be done safely while also continuing to care for patients with COVID-19.

“I would say that our situation in this region, we have a larger number of COVID-positive cases and that's true within our hospitals as well,” she says.

Before resuming procedures and elective surgeries, hospitals need to ensure they have enough staff, personal protective equipment and drugs, as well as the proper infection control practices in place.

“We do imagine that it will be a relatively slow start given all the precautions that will be needed and all the workup that will be needed prior to the surgery, to enable that to happen,” says Fairclough.

Fairclough says patients will be called about rebooking when hospitals are ready.

In the meantime, she advises that anyone with a worsening condition to seek immediate medical attention.

Wanda Janaway hopes she can get her treatment soon as she worries about the impact of the delays on her body.

“You start to worry about the long term effects of the additional medications, the additional painkillers, the quality of life and where things are going to go, and what’s going to happen, is it going to cause more damage?” she says.

Adding that she knows many other people living in the province are in the same situation.