Manitoba spends $2.4M of $50M budget to reduce surgical backlog
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A freedom of information document by the NDP shows the province has only spent about $2.4 million of the promised $50 million to address the surgical backlog as of Aug. 31.
In June, Doctors Manitoba went public with a surgical, procedural and diagnostics backlog that had hit 110,000 procedures and tests.
“When the government holds a press release to announce they are going to spend $50 million, it’s just all the more disappointing when the government hasn’t followed through with meaningful action,” said NDP leader Wab Kinew. “Folks in Manitoba are suffering unnecessarily because the government is still sitting on money that should be used to help you get a surgery more quickly.”
The province announced the funding to reduce surgical wait times on March 31.
Kinew said the backlog issue has been exacerbated by the reorganization of the health care system and cuts to funding and the number of nurses.
A spokesperson for Manitoba Health and Seniors Care said in a press release that there is currently no higher priority for the ministry than addressing the backlog.
“We have contracted with organizations and partners to perform over 11,000 additional procedures to begin to address the backlog caused by COVID-19,” they said in an emailed statement.
This includes Pan Am for hand and foot procedures; Western Surgery for cataracts, pediatric dental and plastics; Cancer Care Manitoba for urology; Vision Group for cataracts; and Maples for general surgery and ENT procedures.
On Oct. 4 they opened a fifth request for supply arrangement for surgical services to address the backlog. The spokesperson said in 2020-21 they invested $4.2 million and in 2021-22 $8.1 million for 8,300 contracted procedures.
Doctors Manitoba, last week, said they are currently working on an update to the backlog but are expecting the number of delayed or cancelled procedures and tests to have grown from the spring.
“We are also concerned that a window of opportunity between the third and fourth wave has been missed to address the issue,” a spokesman said in an emailed statement last week. “Every day matters to patients who continue to wait.”
jaldrich@postmedia.com
Twitter: @JoshAldrich03
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