Saskatchewan will send surgical patients to a private clinic in Calgary, raising questions with Alberta doctors about why those surgical spots are not given to Albertans..Paul Merriman, Saskatchewan Health minister, said the provincial government will pay a private Calgary orthopedic clinic to do about 20 knee and hip surgeries per month for Saskatchewanians on the surgical waitlist. .“This option would be offered to patients, on a fully voluntary basis, who have waited the longest for their joint replacement procedures while work is ongoing to accelerate expansion plans in public and private facilities in Saskatchewan,” said the Saskatchewan Health Authority..Dr John Fernandes, a family physician and office surgery specialist at Northwest Surgical Clinic in Calgary, said that those surgical spots should go to Albertans, not people from other jurisdictions..“My reaction is one mostly of sadness in that this is obviously a move of absolute desperation,” Fernandes told CBC News..“None of this is manageable in any way. What’s going to happen is for every patient that comes from Saskatchewan, there’s potentially an Alberta patient that is not going to be able to access that type of surgery.”.Fernandes said Alberta is dealing with the same surgical backlogs that other provinces have, with Alberta already sending some patients to other places to get their medical procedures done. .Jason Copping, Alberta Health minister, said the “small number of surgeries involved” with Saskatchewan should not affect Alberta’s backlog of 72,000 waiting for procedures..“Alberta was aware that Saskatchewan issued a request for proposal late last year looking to contract chartered surgical centres in Canada,” said a statement from Copping’s office..“However, Alberta Health was not aware that an Alberta facility will fulfil this contract.”.Alberta completed over 87,000 surgeries between April and August, which is 44% higher than the same period in 2021, helping to reduce the pandemic-created backlogs..Dr Anthony Gomes, Alberta Medical Association’s general surgery division head, said that most patients getting treated at private clinics are through an employer or workers’ compensation waitlist, not the public waitlist..“It takes surgeons away from work they could be doing in the public hospitals. Our system does not have the resources to deal with the number of patients that need procedures,” said Gomes..“There needs to be some long-term thinking and long-term investment. And it has to be aligned with the needs of patients.”.Fernandes agrees with Gomes that the healthcare system needs major reform..“It is becoming increasingly apparent that there is no solution with the current design of our health-care system, and it’s going to fall apart in different areas, like a stack of dominoes,” said Fernandes..The Saskatchewan government will not cover the cost of travel to Calgary, the patient pays for all the travel expenses. .Merriman said that sending the surgeries to another province will help Saskatchewan reduce its surgical backlog, however, he did not say what clinic. .Carla Beck, NDP Opposition leader, said the out-of-province privatized care is creating a two-tier health system with wealthy people jumping the line over those less fortunate.
