The provincial government plans on implementing all recommendations from the Provincial Surgical Task Force report aimed at reducing backlogs in the health care system.

In total, 32 recommendations have been made, some of which are already being implemented, according to Health Minister Tom Osborne.

He says the province is working to ensure that NL Health Services has the resources it needs to follow through with all 32.

They are broken down into three categories: Seven involve measuring and monitoring, four fall under maximizing the workforce, while the remaining 21 have to do with operational improvements.

Some of the key recommendations include developing a centralized list of operating rooms across the province to match surgical availability with facility underutilization, re-purposing under-used beds in personal care and long-term care homes for non-surgical patients occupying beds, and exploring and implementing ambulatory surgery centres that provide same-day surgical care.

Osborne says government expects to start implementing the remaining recommendations this fall.