The situation is improving in Quebec hospitals, where soon 85% of operating theaters will be functional. However, delays continue to accumulate and it will be years before the waiting lists are overcome.
“We are looking at everything that can be done to restore access,” said Stéphane Bergeron, director of professional services at the CHU de Québec, Monday.
As of Tuesday, 85% of operating rooms will be in operation, while barely 56% of them were used during the holiday season.
Other good news: of the 242 employees under house arrest due to COVID-19, 198 are expected to work within seven days.
But the damage is extensive. Since March 2020, the number of pending surgeries has increased from 11,393 to 17,220. Of these, nearly 700 have been pending for more than a year.
The increase is particularly high for colonoscopies, and overdue bladder endoscopies rose from 863 to 1,801 over the same period. At present, 70% of the operations can be carried out, but we hope to be able to resume a normal rhythm by next week.
Asked to say when the CHU thought it could empty its waiting list, Mr. Bergeron replied that it was a question of “years”.
One knee down
The CEO of the CHU, Martin Beaumont, had summoned the media so that the population knew that his organization was “in action” to do the maximum. But he said he also has to take into account the exhaustion of his staff. “The Omicron wave knocked us down on one knee,” he said.
During the fifth wave, the CHU had to deprive itself of between 800 and 900 employees at a time, in addition to the shortage of staff, he underlined.
The manager said that it was necessary to call employees during the holidays to cancel their vacation, their New Year’s Day. “It was almost inhuman to maintain a safe service offer for our population,” he said.
More details will follow.