In an effort to clear the surgical backlog in the province, the Ontario government is expanding the number of surgeries done through community surgical and diagnostic centres..“When it comes to your health, the status quo is no longer acceptable,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Monday. “Our government is taking bold action to reduce wait times for surgeries, all while ensuring Ontarians use their OHIP card to get the care they need, never their credit card.”.The change will be introduced in three phases. In the first one, new partnerships with community surgical and diagnostic centres in Windsor, Kitchener-Waterloo, and Ottawa will allow 14,000 additional cataract surgeries to be performed every year. This number represents 25% of the province's current cataract waitlist..The second stage will see Ontario expand the scope of its community surgical and diagnostic centres to address regional needs. It will focus primarily on low-risk and non-urgent procedures like cataracts, MRI and CT imaging, and colonoscopy and endoscopy procedures. The procedures, to begin as early as 2023, will allow hospitals to focus their resources on more complex and high risk surgeries..In the final stage, the government will introduce legislation this February to allow already existing community diagnostic centres to do more MRI and CT scanning. This will allow Ontarians to access publicly funded diagnostic services faster and closer to home. Beginning in 2024, the step will apply to surgeries for hip and knee replacements..During the press conference, Ford said some in Ontario want to "just keep doing the same old thing and expect a different result, when it comes to healthcare." But Ford said that has not worked.."We're gonna continue moving forward... There's different methodologies of delivering the services, and we have consulted with everyone and their cousin, and their brother, and their doctors, and CEOs and you name it," he said. "This is the best way to go to take the burden off the backs of the hospitals, across the board. So we'll keep doing it cautiously.".Ford assured Ontarians that the services would be covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan and said patients will "never use their credit cards" at the clinics. But he didn't answer a question about whether or not clinics would be allowed to upsell patients on elements of their care..The premier also said the changes will be kept in place permanently, even after the surgical backlog has been cleared. .Five major Ontario healthcare unions condemned Ford's plan, claiming it will siphon provincial funding from public hospital care and give it to private, for-profit surgical clinics, a "risky venture that will cost Ontarians dearly and damage access to public care."."This move will further starve our public healthcare system of funding and divert front-line staff to enrich private shareholders and diminish access to publicly-delivered healthcare. Patients will wait even longer for healthcare under this scheme and should not be misled into believing they will not pay out of pocket," the unions said..The CEO of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) Dr. Nancy Whitmore also said she met with the Ministry of Health last week to voice her opposition to some elements of the changes.."We reiterated our position that complex procedures such as hip and knee joint replacement surgeries should remain connected to the hospital system to ensure continuity of care and patient safety," she said.."CPSO is supportive of expanding access to diagnostic procedures and less complex surgical procedures in community settings. However, we emphasized our ongoing concern about creating further strain on the present health care provider crisis particularly in skilled operating room nurses and anesthesiologists."
