The provincial government has announced a plan to help deal with surgical delays in hip and knee replacement surgery.
Prime Minister Andrew Fury made the announcement at the Confederation building on Thursday.
From this fall, a number of hip and knee changes will be performed as outpatient procedures. This means that patients will be mobilized shortly after the operation and will return home the same day.
The government says changing joints on the same day will help minimize waiting times and improve access, as in some cases a lack of available hospital beds is an obstacle to care.
In addition, it comes with many benefits, including less risk of blood clots, less invasive surgery, shorter hospital stays, lower risk of infection and more.
Eastern Health CEO David Diamond says the new approach will require four new positions, including two registered nurses, a physiotherapist and an assistant.
He says they hope everything will be in place by the fall. He says they will start with two hospital procedures a day from Monday to Friday, which will eventually be increased to four procedures a day. In total, this equates to 200 procedures per year. Their goal is for 20 percent of all procedures to be performed on an outpatient basis.
An earlier story
Prime Minister Andrew Fury is due to hold a press conference at noon to announce what they call a “solution to tackling surgical delays”.
Fury will be joined by Health Minister John Hagi, Eastern Health CEO David Diamond and orthopedic surgeon Keegan Au.
Availability takes place in the Confederate building at 12:30 p.m.
VOCM News will be there.
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