B.C. can't privatize its way out of long surgical waits, Supreme Court says. What now?

The Supreme Court of Canada's dismissal was 56 words long, but it spoke volumes.

Canada's highest court said it would not hear a Vancouver orthopedic surgeon's appeal challenging B.C.'s key limits on private health care, ending Dr. Brian Day's 14-year legal fight.

Health Minister Adrian Dix celebrated the dismissal as a "vindication" of the public health-care system Thursday morning.

As he did, more than 80,000 British Columbians were waiting for their surgeries in the public system. Some in the north and Interior have been waiting for more than two years.

Day and some advocates say persistent long waits prove the public system isn't up to the task of fixing the backlog and fear the court is washing its hands of an important issue.

"This is a worse day for justice than it is for health care," Day told CBC News Thursday.

Stories of individuals facing long and painful delays showed the case's high stakes, but the public health-care system wasn't on trial.

The court was considering whether B.C.'s limits on private insurance and extra billing violate the principles of universal and reasonable access to health care enshrined in the federal Canada Health Act when waits are so long in the public system.

"The crux of this case is that we have unreasonable wait times in the public system and then limits on privatization," said Lorian Hardcastle, an assistant professor specializing in health law at the University of Calgary.

"The entire premise underlying the Canada Health Act is that people ought to be able to access health-care services based on need, rather than ability to pay," said Hardcastle.

WATCH | Dr. Brian Day says the health-care system is being left to implode:

The dismissal leaves provinces to pick up the pieces of a beleaguered health-care system, discouraging them from turning to privatization, public-health-and-health-law academic experts say.

Experts have long feared a Day victory would have formalized a two-tier health-care system where wealthy patients could pay to jump long surgical queues.