46% of Manitoba’s pandemic surgical backlog cleared, task force says
Posted May 31, 2023 12:17 pm.
Manitoba health officials say they have made more progress in reducing diagnostic and surgical backlogs that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Peter MacDonald, who chairs a provincial committee on the issue, says 40 per cent of the diagnostic backlog related to the pandemic has been cleared, up from 32 per cent last month.
He says 46 per cent of the surgical backlog has been cleared, which is also an improvement from last month.
Health officials say overall backlogs remain in many areas, but the delays created by the pandemic are being reduced.
Manitoba says more than 72,300 total procedures were funded through the Diagnostic and Surgical Recovery Task Force (DSRTF):
- 43,600 in the public system
- 28,200 by contracted health-service providers
- 478 procedures outside of province
“Today’s progress update is proof the approach is working as thousands of Manitobans are no longer waiting for the surgical and diagnostic care they need,” said MacDonald, chair of the DSRTF steering committee. “Initiatives approved by the task force are enabling us to achieve progress as quickly as possible.
“The task force is also fully engaged with Shared Health to ensure Manitoba has a resilient and self-reliant health system.”
Manitoba established the DSRTF in late 2021.
