Maritimers face longest surgical wait times, far beyond national average

The Maritime provinces are leading the country in lengthy healthcare wait times, showing a stark contrast to the national average.

All three Maritime provinces consistently grapple with lengthy healthcare wait times, but they are a stark contrast to the national average.

Nova Scotia leads the country with the longest wait times at 56.7 weeks for specialist treatment, that's followed closely by P.E.I. at 55.2 weeks and New Brunswick at 52.6 weeks.

These figures come from new statistics from the Fraser Institute's annual physician study, which shows wait times are at record levels up in Canada.

In Nova Scotia, who have the longest wait times, their numbers are down from 58.2 weeks last year, to 56.7 weeks this year.

"We actually do see an improvement in the wait times in Nova Scotia, they are actually tracking down," said Bacchus Barua, director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute. "But unfortunately Nova Scotia still has the dubious title of having the longest wait times in Canada."

By far, all three Maritime figures surpass the national average of 27.7 weeks, while waiting for scheduled surgery, which includes procedures like orthopedics, urology, gynecology, and other elective surgeries.

Challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic still exist and helped create a surgical backlog in the first place, said anesthesiologist and Doctors Nova Scotia president Dr. Colin Audain.