Thousands await medical procedures in Waterloo Region, Guelph

There are almost 16,000 patients waiting for medical procedures in Waterloo Region, Guelph and Wellington County, according to the five hospitals in the area.

There are almost 16,000 patients waiting for medical procedures in Waterloo Region, Guelph and Wellington County, according to the five hospitals in the area.

The update says hospitals have had to redeploy staff to deal with critically ill patients during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has forced the numbers to climb during each wave of the pandemic.

Across the area, there are 15,937 patients awaiting surgery or procedures with 56 per cent of those affected being cataract patients.

St. Mary’s General Hospital in Kitchener and Guelph General Hospital are the two hospitals with the biggest backlogs to deal with as 7,490 patients and 4,095 patients on the hospitals’ respective waitlists. Around 7,600 of those patients are cataract-day surgery patients.

Waitlists at the area’s biggest hospital, Grand River Hospital in Kitchener (2,254) and Cambridge Memorial Hospital (1,922, with 1,337 for cataract day-surgery) are also lengthy as well, while Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Fergus also has 176 patients awaiting procedures.

At the beginning of January, the province put all non-urgent surgeries on pause, estimating it would affect around 10,000 people per week.

Toward the end of the month, the pause was lifted with some of those surgeries resuming in certain areas including pediatrics, diagnostic services, cancer screenings, some ambulatory clinics, private hospitals, and independent health facilities.

“We welcomed last week’s announcement by the province which outlined a plan to phase in gradual increases. At GGH, cancer screening, some diagnostic procedures and some ambulatory care clinics resumed this week,” Guelph General Hospital’s Melissa Skinner stated.