Out-of-province partnerships to speed up hip, knee replacements for Manitobans: task force

Three recently inked partnerships with out-of-province clinics will help hundreds of Manitobans waiting on hip and knee replacement surgeries access care quicker.

The partnerships were announced by Manitoba’s Diagnostic and Surgical Task Force, the group formed to shrink the province’s lengthy backlog for surgery and diagnostic testing.

The clinics are in northwestern Ontario, North Dakota and Ohio.

Task force chair Doctor Peter MacDonald said people can begin to seek care at these locations in the coming weeks. He said once someone is approved for out-of-province care, their physician and members of their health-care team will work closely with out-of-province providers to ensure a smooth process.

He said the province is putting in place for the first time a process to allow patients to self-identify if they are interested in travelling out of the province and are on a waitlist already for hip and knee replacement.

Eligibility requirements can be found on the task force’s website.

“These agreements are an important measure to help us build capacity and provide care for people who have been waiting too long for these surgeries,” he said, noting this is only an interim measure before more capacity can be built in Manitoba’s health-care system.

The partnerships are with Big Thunder Orthopedic Associates in northwestern Ontario, Sanford Health in North Dakota and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.

A pilot project will start at the end of August at Big Thunder, with the facility taking six patients and then the program is expected to grow to 20 to 30 a month.

The other two partnerships will start in September with 10 patients a month at Sanford Health, while the Cleveland Clinic is expected to receive 100 people this year and another 200 the following year.

The partnerships are expected to last between two and three years, depending on the demand for the program.

“These three new agreements are important interim measures to help people who have been waiting for care for too long, as we work to build long-term, sustainable improvements and increased capacity in our health-care system here at home,” said Health Minister Audrey Gordon in a news release.

Between January and June 2022, Manitoba performed 2,250 hip and knee surgeries, which was more than what happened in the previous two years. However, the province said as waitlists expanded during COVID-19, there was also an increase in the number of patients and their wait times.

NDP Leader Wab Kinew said it is disappointing that the government is “doubling down on their plan for highway medicine.”

“Rather than being able to provide all the surgeries here in Manitoba, Manitobans are being expected to hit the road and leave our province,” said Kinew.

He said Manitobans and Canadians should be able to receive health-care in the province that they live in.

“When we look at some of the other regions where they’re looking to send people, these are facilities where they themselves are dealing with staffing issues.”

He said the current approach from the government is leaving a lot to be desired.