Alberta Well being says it would contract out hundreds of orthopedic surgical procedures to chartered surgical amenities in Calgary.
Well being Minister Jason Copping says greater than 3,000 publicly funded hip and knee surgical procedures shall be carried out at Canadian Surgical procedure Options, an unbiased health-care facility.
He says that is along with the surgical procedures already being carried out in Calgary hospitals.
“Albertans, lots of whom are in ache, are ready too lengthy for life-changing knee and hip surgical procedures in Calgary,” Copping stated.
“Our Well being Care Motion Plan will speed up including extra surgical procedures each at hospitals throughout Alberta and at chartered surgical amenities to deliver down wait occasions to the ready interval really helpful by medical consultants.”
The province stated there are about 6,000 individuals in Calgary ready for orthopedic surgical procedures.
Greater than half of them are ready longer than the clinically acceptable time for knee and hip replacements. The contract introduced on Monday will improve orthopedic procedures carried out within the Calgary space by 21 per cent in contrast with 2021-22, Alberta Well being stated in a press release.
The Opposition NDP says the United Conservative authorities’s plan expands surgical privatization.
David Shepherd, well being critic for the NDP, says it would do lasting hurt to Alberta’s public health-care system and in the end result in extra out-of-pocket prices for Albertans.
He says it additionally takes employees and assets away from the general public system, which is already experiencing staffing shortages.
Copping disagreed, saying they’re contracting further assets to construct up the system.
“That is no completely different than going to see your loved ones physician,” he stated. “That is paid via our health-care system, and it is a non-public company.”
The federal government stated a number of actions are underway to spice up surgical capability at hospitals, together with extending predominant working room surgical suite hours.
They’re additionally including new working rooms to hospitals throughout the province, together with in Calgary, Edmonton, Edson, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Medication Hat and Rocky Mountain Home.
Shifting extra orthopedic surgical procedures and procedures into chartered surgical amenities will unlock working room house in hospitals to offer extra complicated surgical procedures, the federal government stated.