B.C. almost caught up on surgeries postponed by COVID-19, health minister says

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix says the province is getting back on track after surgeries were postponed due to the pandemic.

In a new report Wednesday, Dix says 99.8 per cent of surgeries which were delayed during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020 have been completed, and there are efforts to get the remaining procedures back on track.

In addition to the first wave, thousands of surgeries were postponed again over the last two years, and many were most recently cancelled due to extreme weather events, such as flooding in the fall that left major routes in  and out of B.C.’s South Coast blocked.

“96.2 per cent of patients whose scheduled surgery was postponed because of the second and third wave and still wish to pursue a surgery had their surgery. And 78.9 per cent of the patients whose scheduled surgery was postponed because of waves four and five and still wish to pursue a surgical treatment had their surgery,” Dix added.

Related Articles: 

• Flood postpones surgeries at Lions Gate Hospital

• ‘My husband’s life is not disposable’: Families worry about consequences of cancelled surgeries

• B.C. surgeries delayed due to thousands of unvaccinated health care workers

In a 12-month period, over 337,000 surgeries were completed by the end of March. Dix said this was “the most surgeries ever completed in a single year in B.C. during this challenging year of COVID.”

“This is 21,284 more surgeries than last year and … surgeries 7,155 more than 2019.”

Patients who have been waiting twice their recommended wait times will continue to be prioritized. The province says the waitlist peaked in May 2020.

Four hundred nurses and 100 technicians have been trained through the province’s surgical renewal program, according to Dix, who adds efforts are underway to hire more staff.

“While all health authorities are recruiting staff, the pandemic has taken its toll on our surgical teams and our health-care systems. Our actions to renew, rebuild and strengthen health care include our surgical teams. We are working on a comprehensive human resource plan that includes anesthesia, specialty nurses, surgeons and other staff which contains targeted and proactive recruitment efforts to ensure we have the right number of health-care professionals to deliver and sustain renewal in year three and beyond,” Dix explained.

He notes 17,000 operating room hours were added last year, allowing completion of more than 52,000 urgent scheduled surgeries and over 72,000 unscheduled, emergency procedures.

“Work is not done,” the health minister insisted.

“COVID-19 has had an impact on health care systems around the world. In B.C., we are taking action to renew, rebuild and strengthen our health-care system to address the impacts of COVID, severe weather events, and all the factors that affect the care people receive.”

– With files from The Canadian Press