Earlier this spring, St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital president and CEO Robert Biron indicated there was a backlog of well over 1,000 surgeries put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic his staff would have to deal with. And a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal at the end of August suggested clearing the backlog across the province could take 84 weeks.
Biron says there now is a backlog of approximately 850 surgeries. He cautions it could be next spring before a significant number of these can be addressed.
Technically speaking, that backlog of 850 surgeries could be cleared in about six weeks, noted Biron. “But, as you can appreciate, we get new cases every day so what we have to do is whittle that backlog down.”
Biron says the good news is operating theatres are back up to capacity.
A complicating factor is the arrival of flu season along with a possible second wave of the coronavirus. Biron says staff are preparing for that eventuality.
Biron adds, administrators and staff are planning for the worst, but hoping for the best.
He stresses, “The community continues to support the hospital in terms of doing their part by social distancing, wearing masks and washing their hands and maybe we’ll get through the next wave in a way that was as good as the first wave.”
