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.
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.”