Surgical procedures returning to 'pre-pandemic' levels in Manitoba

The taskforce aimed at reducing the surgical backlog in Manitoba says surgical procedures are consistently being performed at levels before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Surgical procedures are consistently at 2019 baselines, which means a return to pre-pandemic levels,” said David Matear, executive director of the Diagnostic and Surgical Recovery Task Force, said in an update Thursday afternoon.

Matear said the volume of surgeries in Manitoba has been gradually growing in recently weeks, with the majority of surgical sites in Winnipeg between 90 and 100 per cent of operational capacity. He said most rural surgical sites have been at 100 per cent operational capacity for some time.

Matear said the province has partnered with multiple organizations to help increase the number of surgical procedures in Manitoba. He said the partnerships resulted in 11,000 procedures being completed, including endoscopies, cataract surgeries and pediatric surgeries.

However, the need for new procedures will only add to the existing backlog, Matear said.

“Until we get to that point where we have an increase capacity in the system, we're required based on the backlogs that existed prior to the pandemic,” he said. “Yes, there'll be slight increases within the backlog. But, because of the capacity of the health-care system, currently, the rate of increase of those backlogs will be minimized.”

Matear said negotiations are underway with a private partner to help address diagnostic procedures, and details will be announced in the coming weeks.