The latest update from Manitoba’s Diagnostic and Surgical Recovery Task Force is showing modest improvements to the waitlist backlogs that have ballooned during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The task force provided the following waitlists breakdown as of Jan. 31:
- CT scans: 17,241 (down 12 per cent from December)
- Ultrasounds: 20,461 (down 16 per cent from December)
- MRIs: 14,780 (down 13 per cent from December)
Surgical slates are also ramping up at sites across the province.
Notably, the task force says Concordia Hospital has been at full capacity – four slates per day – for several weeks, St. Boniface General Hospital has been running full cardiac slates since Jan. 31, and Brandon Hospital is reporting a return to pre-COVID levels for surgery and endoscopy.
Additionally, two surgical slates and one endoscopy room are expected to go back into operation next week in Winnipeg.
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Beginning March 14, many staff are expected to return to their normal duties, meaning surgical capacity across the province can ramp up further.
Also included in the update is a note that spinal surgeries have begun to take place in Fargo, N.D., “marking the start of a pilot program that will expand over time.”
Those procedures are part of an out-of-province referral program, whereby Manitobans are referred by their specialists “typically for conditions such as spinal stenosis and chronic degenerative disc disease.”
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