Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK
March 22, 2022 - 11:19 AM
Despite the B.C. government’s statement that it has caught up on almost all surgeries postponed due to COVID, there are more than 1,200 orthopaedic surgical patients on Kelowna’s wait list along with another 900 in Kamloops.
That’s according to an open letter from the B.C. Orthopaedic Association sent to Health Minister Adrian Dix. The group want a meeting with the minister in an effort to address the situation. The letter was sent to Dix on March 16, but just released to the media today, March 22.
“The reason for this letter and our request for a meeting is also to communicate serious concerns on behalf of our association regarding comments made recently about having caught up with 100% of postponed operations from the early pandemic,” the letter from incoming association president Cassandra Lane Dielwart says.
“This in no way reflects the experience for most orthopaedic patients or surgeons in the province. In fact, we continue to struggle with access to operating rooms, have not caught up, and continue to see wait lists grow.”
Orthopaedic surgeons deal with patients with disorders of bones, joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles. Along with the wait lists in Kelowna and Kamloops, there are thousands of other patients waiting throughout B.C. for surgical procedures.
READ MORE: Hundreds of Interior Health patients waiting for surgeries to be rescheduled
“Unfortunately, orthopaedic surgery is often labeled as ‘elective,’ which implies these surgical procedures are non-urgent,” Lane Dielwart said in the letter. “As such, orthopaedics has been hit by closures at a disproportionately high rate compared to all other surgical specialties.”
Since April 2021, orthopaedic surgeons lost 79 operating room days in Kelowna. The next highest level of cancellations in any other specialty was 48.
“In Kamloops, since the beginning of the pandemic, orthopaedics has lost 1,803 hours of operating time,” the letter says. “On average an orthopaedic case takes around two hours. That is 900 patients who have lost their chance in the operating room.”
Orthopaedic surgeries can be “life transforming,” the letter says.
“The patient stories that have consistently filtered in across this pandemic, as our waitlists continue to grow, are filled with tales of uncontrollable pain, loss of mobility, loss of independence, ultimately leading to depression, short and long-term disability, job loss, and an increasing prevalence of narcotic dependence,” the letter says.
“Orthopaedic procedures have a high success rate and are effective at helping patients restore their mobility and function.”
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