by: zak vescera
keeley buckley’s toddler spent more than a year on a waiting list before saskatchewan indefinitely suspended a slew of surgical procedures as its hospitals buckled under the fourth wave of covid-19.
no one knows when three-year-old elijah will be able to get the cleft lip surgery and bronchoscopy his mother says would make a huge difference in his quality of life.
“it’s very stressful not knowing when his health care will become important again,” she said.
elijah’s delayed surgery is a small part of a massive problem. tens of thousands of procedures, put on hold by the pandemic, threaten to clog saskatchewan’s health-care system. leading physicians say an urgent, innovative plan to clear the backlog is needed before it’s too late.
“really, we need the funder to be willing to go beyond or outside the box,” university of saskatchewan provincial medicine department head dr. haissam haddad said. “otherwise, this will become a chronic problem.”
dr. ivar mendez, the u of s’s provincial head of surgery, said the backlog of patients awaiting surgery has grown by between 34,000 and 35,000 since the start of the pandemic, with 800 to 1,000 being added every week. they range from people awaiting hip or knee replacements to cataract surgeries and organ donations.