Ambulances outside the emergency entrance at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, are photographed in Toronto on Sept 22 2020.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
The Ontario government is spending $741-million to help the province’s health care system manage another wave of COVID-19 cases, and says it could take up to two years to catch up on tens of thousands of surgeries postponed because of the pandemic.
The investment, part of the government’s fall-preparedness plan, will allow hospitals to perform more surgeries, even as COVID-19 cases continue to grow. Ontario Health estimates that between March and September, 187,000 elective and non-emergency procedures were put on hold, and it could take between 18 months to two years to clear the backlog.
“We know how stressful this has been for patients and their loved ones. Which is why our government is working very hard to create the capacity needed to address the backlog,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said on Friday.
The new hospital measures come as a resurgence of COVID-19 cases prompted the Ontario government on Friday to order restaurants and bars to close earlier and strip clubs to shut down indefinitely. Health care experts in Ontario are sounding the alarm about the province’s exponential growth in new cases, prompting concerns that rising cases in the community will eventually put pressure on hospitals.
“We know every additional hospital bed we secure puts us in a stronger position to fight the next surge. Every hospital bed we free up, it can make all the difference in the world,” Premier Doug Ford said.
The government also said it would expand hours at health care facilities for diagnostic imaging such as MRIs and CT scans, and add almost 1,400 beds in hospitals and alternate facilities such as private clinics. It also plans to centralize a waiting list so surgeries can take place in different regions.
Samantha Hill, president of the Ontario Medical Association, said she is pleased the government is addressing the backlog. “Apart from COVID-19 and the flu, it is the most pressing issue in health care right now,” she said in an interview.
Hospitals in large swaths of Canada postponed tens of thousands of procedures earlier this year to make way for a wave of COVID-19 patients that did not ultimately swamp hospitals.
In British Columbia, the government announced in May that it was gearing up to provide elective and non-emergency procedures again by overhauling the province’s surgical system, including scheduling procedures on the weekend. Health Minister Adrian Dix said at the time that it would take 17 to 24 months to clear the backlog of postponed surgeries. He said last week that the province has made “marked progress” in adding surgical capacity.
Anthony Dale, president of the Ontario Hospital Association, said it makes sense to have hospitals that are less busy take on more elective surgeries. Health care workers in regions hit hardest by the coronavirus are already working flat-out staffing COVID-19 assessment centres and testing labs and helping in long-term-care homes with outbreaks in addition to their regular responsibilities in hospitals.
“If there is a surge of any significance, it’s going to make it very difficult for hospitals to perform all of those functions simultaneously,” Mr. Dale said in an interview.
The proposal to move patients between regions could open up some good opportunities and ease the burden on hospitals with high occupancy rates, said Kevin Smith, chief executive officer of the University Health Network hospitals in Toronto.
“It recognizes not only the challenge but also the fact that we don’t have tons of staff hanging around looking for more work,” Dr. Smith said in an interview.
Patients waiting in the queue for minor procedures might be willing to take the next available surgeon, he said. Cancer patients, by contrast, might not be willing because they want a long-term relationship with their oncologist.
However, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Mr. Ford’s announcement is weeks late and incomplete. Hospitals in Ontario are underfunded, she said, and “don’t have an effective, comprehensive action plan to keep surgeries going and get through the flu season during the second wave.”
Ontario said its new rules, which were to take effect Saturday at 12:01 a.m., will require bars, restaurants and nightclubs to stop serving alcohol after 11 p.m. and for all establishments to close from midnight until 5 a.m. They will still be allowed to provide takeout and delivery after hours.
The province is also closing all strip clubs in Ontario, after outbreaks were reported at two clubs in Toronto in the past two months.
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