Doctors call for help as hospitals battle surgical backlogs, staffing shortages
CBC
Cheryl Sword does as many activities as she can with her husband and 11-year-old son, until she has to stop and rest.
"My abdominal pain and pressure stops me in my tracks," Sword, 36, who lives in Sherwood Park, Alta., told CBC News.
She was supposed to have two ovarian cysts, one on each side, removed in early 2020. But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and " the world shut down."
Her doctor assured her that ovarian cysts are quite common and it would be fine to delay the surgery.
But as time dragged on for more than a year, the cysts got bigger — and so did the pain.
Finally, her surgery was rescheduled for September 2021. Sword notified her daycare clients so they could make alternate child-care arrangements during what was expected to be a long recovery.
But then, Alberta was hit by a devastating fourth wave — and as hospital beds filled with COVID-19 patients, her surgery was cancelled yet again.
"I went into the bathroom, got in the shower, and sat on the floor and cried," she said.
Sword is one of hundreds of thousands of people across the country whose surgical and diagnostic procedures have been delayed, the Canadian Medical Association says.
A recent report, commissioned by the CMA from consulting firm Deloitte, estimates that there's currently a backlog of 327,800 procedures — and that it will take at least $1.3 billion in additional funding "to return wait-times to their pre-pandemic levels."
"This number may be even higher when additional procedures and the cancellation of non-urgent surgeries in several provinces during the fourth wave are factored in," the report said.
Although hospitals prioritized life-saving and urgent procedures, there are consequences for those patients, like Sword, who didn't meet those criteria, said Dr. Katharine Smart, a pediatrician and president of the Canadian Medical Association.
"There's no question, you know, when services, imaging, testing, biopsies, surgeries are delayed, many people's problems get worse, not better," Smart said.
"So instead of having perhaps a problem that would have had a simple solution or maybe required a non-invasive operation, now you're dealing with a problem that's much more significant for the patient."
Premier Wab Kinew says Manitoba will hold a public inquiry as soon as 2026 into the former Progressive Conservative government’s post-election efforts to approve an environmental licence for sand-mining company Sio Silica.
Premier Scott Moe has led the Saskatchewan Party through two straight elections, winning majority governments each time.
Eight weeks after adding a GM BrightDrop van to the fleet of his plumbing and heating business, Marty Salliss has no complaints, only praise.
Nearly half of Alberta’s Grade 6 students failed the provincewide math test in 2024, three years after the province started rolling out its new elementary school curriculum.
Toronto could get new cars on the road whose drivers will never get frustrated by gridlock — because the cars would be driving themselves.
Amidst a cost-of-living crisis, some London-area organizations say they have noticed a decline in donations this holiday season.
Prominent northern leaders have been touting the Arctic economic and security corridor as a "nation-building" project that will bring economic benefits to the two territories it straddles, but others are split on how much good will come out of it.
When the federal government tabled its 2025 budget last month, it included a proposal that tax fraud experts say is long overdue — if also a belated acknowledgement that the Canada Revenue Agency has been repeatedly duped into paying out untold millions in bogus tax refunds to scammers.
Talking with an AI chatbot can successfully convince people to change their votes and could affect the outcome of future elections, according to a new study.
While some are writing wishlists for Santa Claus, a group of Newfoundland and Labrador youth are writing their wishlist for the provincial government.
A horse owner near Stewiacke, N.S., says the current shortage of hay in the province is putting pressure on her financially.
Victoria Volkanova was remembering Jewish resilience and courage by celebrating Hanukkah on Sunday.
Winnipeggers are still digging out from this past week’s winter wallop, but the wait for roadside assistance is almost over, according to the provincial motoring association.