About half of Canadians had to wait longer than the recommended time frame for priority surgeries during the first wave of COVID-19.
That’s according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, which says that between April and September of last year, 50 percent of Canadians had to wait longer for things like joint replacements and cataract surgeries.
That’s compared to one-third of Canadians during the same time in 2019.
However, they do note that wait times for urgent procedures like hip fracture repair and radiation therapy were comparable to 2019.
Erin Pichora, manager of health system analytics at CIHI, believes that it will take some time before the healthcare system can clear the backlog of procedures.
There are a number of things such a rebound will depend on, with Pichora noting one of the most important of which is having a healthy workforce to catch up on procedures.