Sask. boasts record number of surgeries performed, but tens of thousands still waiting

The Saskatchewan government says it set a new record for number of surgeries performed in a year, but more than 32,000 people are still waiting for procedures.

On Wednesday, the province issued a news release boasting that more than 90,000 surgical procedures were performed from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, the most ever recorded in Saskatchewan in one year. 

"This progress is welcome news as we move forward with surgical investments increasing by $42.5 million in this year's budget. We will continue to maximize system capacity by optimizing public surgical services and expanding the involvement of private sector partners in publicly funded surgical service delivery," Health Minister Paul Merriman said in a news release.

The government is aiming to eclipse last year's record mark by completing 103,000 surgeries in 2023-24.

It said it will accomplish this by "long-term investment in both public surgical services and publicly funded privately delivered centres." It said short-term strategies involve "utilizing efficiencies in operating rooms and scheduling processes as well as ensuring key staffing complements."

In March 2022, the federal government pledged $62 million to help reduce Saskatchewan's surgical backlog.

Saskatchewan's surgery wait-list hit a pandemic peak of 35,499 in November 2021. Today it sits at 32,013. The wait-list was at 24,894 in February 2020.

The government has set a target of 25,000 or less on the wait-list by March 31, 2024.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said roughly 80 per cent of people waiting 18 months or more for surgery were waiting for one of the following procedures:

In the 2023-24 budget, the government committed $6 million to have private Calgary clinic Canadian Surgical Solutions perform knee and hip surgeries.

Merriman has said the government plans to continue to use private clinics, with taxpayers covering the costs.

He said the clinic would do 20 surgeries a month or 240 surgeries in total.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees criticized the deal when it was announced.

"With this trajectory, we see that the government is moving toward nothing but privatization," CUPE Local 5430 President Bashir Jalloh told the Canadian Press in March.