Health Minister Jason Copping. (Government of Alberta)

By David Opinko (Lethbridge News Now)

Chartered facilities to reduce wait times for eye surgeries in Alberta

Apr 23, 2022 | 10:08 AM

CALGARY, AB – New contracts with two chartered surgical facilities are expected to bring down wait times for certain types of eye-related procedures.

The contracts, with Holy Cross Surgical Services and Vision Group Canada in Calgary and Edmonton, came into effect on April 1, 2022.

They are expected to provide about 35,000 cataract and other eye surgeries in 2023, representing an increase of 25% compared to 2021’s 28,000.

Health Minister Jason Copping says these facilities are not only expected to drive down wait times but improve resilience and capacity within Alberta’s health system.

“We need to build both public and private surgical capacity and reduce wait times. Utilizing private clinics in Calgary and Edmonton for ophthalmological surgeries, particularly cataract surgeries, will free up space for other surgeries in AHS facilities. The new surgical recovery lead will support our work with stakeholders to complete all postponed surgeries as quickly as possible and help develop innovative approaches to reducing wait times to clinically acceptable levels.”

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The other benefit, according to Copping, is that, by performing ophthalmological surgeries in community clinics, it frees up operating space in hospitals, which can then prioritize more complex surgeries including complex cataract and retinal procedures, plus ear, nose, and throat operations.

He adds that chartered surgical facilities go hand-in-hand with normal public healthcare.

“A surgery provided under contract in a [chartered surgical facility] is publicly-funded healthcare, just like in a hospital. You don’t have to get our your credit card to pay for it and you get the same service you’d get in the hospital from the same surgeons, according to the same clinical standards, but you get that care in a setting that specializes in it.

The province has also hired its first Canadian healthcare executive, Ronan Segrave, who will serve as Alberta’s Surgical Recovery Lead.

He says he has already begun work on an Alberta-made action plan to first reduce the surgical backlog created by the pandemic and then continue work on implementing the Alberta Surgical Initiative.

“This is a great opportunity to forge forward on an Alberta-made plan that will support a strong surgical system built for the future. I’m pleased to take on this role and help drive better patient outcomes and set Alberta on a path to recovery.”

Segrave served as the COO for the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg from December 2017 to June 2021 and helped to transition to a new provincial health organization.

He also has experience with England’s Department of Health as well as healthcare consulting firms.

READ MORE: Health Minister says surgical backlog to be cleared by 2023