By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

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Waits for non-urgent surgeries continue as Alberta hospitals prepare for COVID-19 patients

Mar 29, 2020 | 11:58 AM

Red Deer County resident Stacie Kropodra says delayed surgeries for her and her son are a tough pill to swallow.

“My hysterectomy is very important to me, as I’m in a lot of pain, but the surgery my son needs is even more important because his tonsils are so big, you can’t see down his throat,” says Kropodra, who’s been waiting over two years for her hysterectomy.

“My son is not sleeping properly and has been on meds for over a year just so we can help curb his behaviour and keep him sleeping,” she added, noting her son has been on a waitlist for eight months.

According to albertahealthservices.ca, scheduled and elective surgeries are being postponed, as well as any diagnostic imaging procedures that are considered non-urgent by the ordering physician. Alberta Precision Laboratories and DynaLIFE are also asking physicians to immediately stop all non-essential and routine lab testing.

Alberta Health Services maintains urgent and emergency surgeries will go ahead amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“We have experienced some issues with scheduling – as you can imagine, everything is extremely fluid right now,” says Heather Kipling with AHS Communications. “However, any patient – including any cancer patient – who needs urgent, emergency surgery will receive it.”

Kipling adds that any patient needing surgery such as a caesarean section or oncology procedure will receive it, but will be triaged for urgency, just as they would have been before the pandemic.

“We acknowledge that this is a challenging time for all of us, but especially for our patients. AHS is doing all it can to ensure Albertans with urgent health concerns get the care they need.”

Kropodra says that while it’s disappointing to still be waiting she would gladly give up their spots for someone hospitalized due to COVID-19, or even just her spot for her son.

“I honestly get why they did this. But I’m not going to lie, I wish there was a way they could section off part of the hospital for non-emergency ‘important to have’ surgical patients.”

If you’re wondering about an upcoming scheduled procedure, do not call 811 or your clinic. AHS says it will contact you.