The Ottawa Hospital says renting its operating rooms to theAcademic Orthopedic Surgical Associates of Ottawa (AOAO) aims to increase the supply of orthopedic surgeries such as hip and knee replacements
to reduce delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ottawa Hospital Center maintains that these surgical facilities are otherwise unused on weekends
and it happens in line with the Ontario government’s plan to increase surgical capacity
.
For its part, the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA) sees the situation differently.
L’AIIO wonders in particular why the government Ford assigns surgeries to third parties if public health network hospitals appear to have sufficient capacity to do so.
« What worries us the most, we are not informed. It happened very quickly, and we are concerned for the safety of patients and staff. All of these things are concerning because we are not informed. It was quick. We just found out and here we are. »
Demonstrations against the presence of the private sector in hospitals have been organized by local sections of the union over the past week.
To this, The Ottawa Hospital responds thatTEACHING allows us to increase capacity for orthopedic surgeries, ensuring that patients have access to the surgical care they need”,”text”:”partnering with the AOAO allows us to increase capacity for orthopedic surgeries , ensuring that patients have access to the surgical care they need”}}”>the partnership with theTEACHING enables us to increase the capacity of orthopedic surgeries, ensuring that patients have access to the surgical care they need and that this add the necessary resources to reduce the backlog of surgeries created by the pandemic
.
Other solutions
Ottawa Health Coalition co-chair Edward Cashman offers other solutions.
You have to prove that there is a capacity for operating room hours. Hours can be extended to accommodate waiting lists. You can extend the time slot. But the government does not want
lance M. Cashman.
For its part, the Ontario government has explained that the purpose of this shift to the private sector is to unclog hospitals. Moreover, what is happening at the Ottawa Hospital is only the beginning.
The province also intends to fund nearly 19,000 additional cataract surgeries per year.
With information from Rebecca Kwan
