Manitoba is spending $5 million to add 70 new operating room assistants to support surgical care teams and increase overall capacity across the province, Health Minister Audrey Gordon announced Tuesday.
“Operating room assistants play an important supporting role in our operating rooms, freeing up time for nurses to focus on the delivery of safe and effective care of Manitoba patients,” said Gordon.
“These positions are designed to help facilitate increased surgical capacity in our province, which is a mandate of the Diagnostic and Surgical Recovery Task Force.”
Responsibilities will range from decontaminating rooms and disinfecting equipment, to transferring and preparing patients safely for surgery, readying instruments and equipment during procedures, and cleaning post-procedure.
The pilot project began in January and the first group of 29 is taking the 12-week training course now and will be phased into hospitals across the city and Selkirk.
“This training will provide operating room assistants with the preparation, the knowledge and the abilities they need to work alongside and support nurses, surgeons, anesthesiologists and other staff who make up our talented surgical teams,” said Monika Warren, chief operating officer of provincial co-ordinated health services and chief nursing officer, Shared Health.
“Nurses, in turn, will be able to focus more on performing the tasks that require their specialized skills. All of this will help to expand our surgical capacity, so Manitobans waiting for important procedures can start to see wait times decrease.”
The province says if the pilot project is expanded, other hospitals in Manitoba will be included.