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Pandemic postponed surgeries, procedures amount to backlog of 16M services: OMA

Collingwood G&M reported 500 cancelled surgeries and procedures during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
surgery
The Ontario Medical Association said significant work will be needed to address the backlog in health care after the pandemic. File photo/Village Media

Postponed surgeries and procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic have created a backlog of 16 million health-care services — more than one for every Ontario resident — the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) estimates.

A comparison of OHIP billings between 2020 and 2021 found significant gaps in MRIs (477,301), CT scans (269,683), cataract surgery (90,136), knee (38,263) and hip (16,506) replacements, according to new data revealed in an OMA media briefing today. 

The OMA estimates that clearing the backlog, working at 120 per cent, would take: 22 months for knee replacements, 21 months for cataract surgeries, 14 months for hip replacements and 10 months for MRIs.

The backlog is larger in community settings (9.6 million) over hospitals (6.5 million), according to the data, suggesting Ontarians have been deferring visits with their family doctors for screening and treatment of chronic conditions.

Collingwood General and Marine Hospital (CGMH) reported just under 500 surgeries and procedures cancelled during the second ramp down. 

Norah Holder, president and CEO of CGMH, said staff are slowly introducing services to return to baseline while also responding to the needs of the community.

"We have addressed and cleared any delayed CT procedures by adding additional resources and appointment times," said Holder in an email to CollingwoodToday. "We are currently in the process of moving through the delayed ultrasound and mammography procedures." 

A May provincial Financial Accountability Office Report estimated it would take $1.3 billion to clear the backlog of surgeries and diagnostic procedures.

Thornhill dermatologist Dr. Sandra Landolt said in the briefing that screening reduced during the pandemic, she is seeing more advanced skin cancers among her patients. The Canadian Dermatologist Association estimates 1,999 melanomas have gone undetected throughout the pandemic.

Landolt later added she is concerned about the long-term mental health impact on people stuck waiting for treatments.

“We can’t even imagine how bad this is going to be,” Landolt said. “I’m very, very concerned.”

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre head of cardiology Dr. Harindra Wijeysundera said health care will need to transform to overcome the situation. He also said with the pandemic reinforcing inequities and hitting vulnerable communities the hardest, the recovery would need to account for that.

“If we’re not deliberate in our recovery phase," he said. "Then it will be a tragic theme in this pandemic that what we recover to will continue to exacerbate these inequities." 

Mississauga family physician Sohal Goyal said it is important people begin contacting their doctors. 

“Don’t wait. We’re ready,” Goyal said. “We have been open. We have been working hard. We’re working overcapacity to try and serve all those patients as fast as we can.”

OMA president Dr. Adam Kassam said additional resources will also have to be part of the solution.

"No matter how you slice it, there’s going to have to be an investment in the health systems in order to not only work through this backlog, but everything else that comes with it," Kassam said. 

With files from Erika Engel