CALGARY – Leisa Haidl is living in almost constant pain. She’s in need of surgery to repair a damaged Achilles tendon and so far, she’s been waiting 14 months.
“I can’t really do any walking, I can’t go hiking, I can’t go biking,” said Haidl. “I’m really limited.”
According to Alberta Health Services documents obtained under a freedom of information request by the NDP, 1,376 surgeries across Alberta have been postponed this year. NDP Leader Rachel Notley says overcrowded hospitals are to blame.
“People are waiting months for important procedures, only to find out on their surgery dates there is no room in the hospital for them,” said Notley.
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Most of the cancellations have been in Edmonton at the University of Alberta Hospital and the Stollery Children’s Hospital, but 134 procedures were also postponed at Calgary’s Rockyview General Hospital. Alberta Health Services says in those cases, an unexpected incident was to blame.
“We had a pipe that basically ruptured and affected our sterilization equipment,” said Dr. Francois Belanger, Calgary zone medical director for Alberta Health Services. “We had to actually re-book a number of surgeries and reschedule, but most of the procedures were rescheduled within a month.”
Belanger said of the 71,000 surgeries performed in Alberta each year, less than half a percent of surgeries are rescheduled. Still, many patients face lengthy waits before ever entering an operating room.
According to AHS data 90 per cent of patients wait 24 weeks for shoulder surgery, 25 weeks for a non-urgent heart bypass procedure and 26 weeks for an MRI. The wait for 90 per cent of patients for a hernia repair is over eight months, and for knee replacement surgery, the wait is nearly a year.
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