Premier Doug Ford says he wants to see surgeons working on weekends, as the province’s medical community grapples with a massive backlog in procedures.
Since non-essential surgeries were put on hold back in the spring, Ford says around tens of thousands of people have been left waiting.
He estimates that about 180,000 surgical procedures were postponed after lockdown measures went into effect.
Earlier this month, models published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal estimated that the backlog would take a year and a half to clear.
However Ford says the Ministry of Health is looking at ways to potentially speed up the process, like asking surgeons and their staff to work Saturdays and Sundays.
He says there is provincial funding available to address the issue, but didn’t specifically say how much has been set aside.
