The Government of Alberta has announced funding to conduct more surgeries. (Photo: Lyoshanazarenko | Dreamstime.com)

By David Opinko

Funding announced to conduct ‘more surgeries this year than ever before’ in Alberta

Mar 26, 2024 | 1:34 PM

The Government of Alberta looks to continue its efforts to catch up on the surgical backlog in the province.

The 2024 provincial budget includes $305 million for Alberta Health Services (AHS) to perform 310,000 surgical procedures this year, an increase of nearly six per cent from 2022-23.

Between 60,000 and 65,000 of those surgeries will take place in publicly-funded chartered surgical facilities, which the government says will help to free up operating rooms in hospitals to handle more complex operations.

This is part of the Alberta Surgical Initiative, which was introduced in 2019 to ensure that more people can get their surgeries completed within clinically-appropriate timeframes.

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The waitlist for surgeries in Alberta spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching 81,600 as of late 2021.

Health Minister Adriana LaGrange says Albertans should have access to healthcare when and where they need it.

“The Alberta Surgical Initiative is empowering health care providers to complete more surgeries while improving wait times. We are working closely with Alberta Health Services to address the existing backlog and introducing new funding to ensure the necessary facilities are in place to deliver timely care to Albertans,” says LaGrange.

The budget would also allocate $313 million over three years for the Alberta Surgical Initiative Capital Program, which aims to add and expand operating rooms across the province. Projects are currently planned in communities including Brooks, Calgary, Crowsnest Pass, Edmonton, Innisfail, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Olds, Rocky Mountain House and Taber.

An additional $60 million will be added for acute care in the province, which would include funding for the Facilitated Access to Specialized Treatment (FAST) program.

The FAST program gives doctors the ability to send referrals to a central team that assigns the case to the specialist with the shortest wait list, or to a specific surgeon if the patient chooses to wait longer. It currently supports urology, orthopedic, general and vascular surgery cases but will roll out to other areas, including gynecology, over the next three years.

AHS interim vice president and chief operating officer of clinical operations and emergency medical services Sean Chilton says they are committed to ensuring timely access to surgeries.

“Through the Alberta Surgical Initiative, we have made significant improvements to the surgical wait list; but we are not done yet. Through these additional investments, we will continue to work on reducing wait times for Albertans so they can access the surgical care they need within the clinically recommended wait times,” says Chilton.

Full details on the budget can be found on the Government of Alberta website.

READ MORE: ‘Responsible plan for a growing province’: Alberta reveals balanced budget, boosting health care and education funding

READ MORE: Alberta says surgery backlog has stabilized at 81,600 following latest COVID outbreak