Chinook Regional Hospital. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Province reaching out to “independent clinics” to do more publicly-funded surgeries

Jan 31, 2020 | 2:04 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Privately-run healthcare facilities could soon play a greater role in increasing the number of surgeries being done in Alberta.

The Government of Alberta has posted an expression of interest to gauge the interest and ability of independent facilities to provide surgeries that are funded with taxpayer dollars.

“We’re eager to hear from independent providers who want to help us improve access,” says Health Minister Tyler Shandro. “They already perform thousands of surgeries for Albertans, providing safe care that’s convenient for patients and reduces costs.”

“We’re going to make the best use of hospitals and independent providers to give every patient the right care in the right setting, and give Albertans the best access to surgery in Canada,” adds Shandro.

In 2019, 42 of 80 independent providers, also known as “non-hospital surgical facilities” conducted approximately 40,000 surgeries. About 85% of surgeries in Alberta are done at government-run hospitals.

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As part of the Alberta Surgical Wait-Times Initiative, the province’s goal is to fund 80,000 additional surgeries over the next three years.

The province and Alberta Health Services (AHS) are looking to hear from existing independent clinics and prospective ones to see if they have the capacity to perform more procedures starting as early as fall 2020.

“Developed collaboratively, the Alberta Surgical Wait-Times Initiative reflects the input of patient advisors, operational leaders, physicians, surgical teams and quality improvement programs,” says AHS Vice President of Quality and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Francois Belanger.

“This initiative is a complex endeavor and requires collaboration across the whole health system. As part of that collaboration, we’re working with non-hospital surgical facilities to increase capacity, which will be a critical part of this initiative.”

They are exploring if independent clinics could provide surgeries that are currently done exclusively in hospitals such as hip and knee replacements.

By expanding what non-hospital surgical facilities are able to do, the province hopes to free up capacity in hospitals for emergency surgeries and more complex procedures.

Respondents will have until February 28th to speak to the government.

Earlier this week, Minister Shandro and Lethbridge-East MLA Nathan Neudorf discussed their “goal for healthcare” in Alberta. More details here.