Controversy over publicly funded surgeries in private facilities in Alberta

Faced with a backlog of surgeries that got worse during the pandemic, Alberta is now adding orthopedic operations to the list of publicly-funded procedures that could go to private clinics. “Many orthopedic surgeries have long waitlists, with many Albertans waiting longer than experts determine is clinically appropriate,” the province’s health minister, Tyler Shandro, said in a statement quoted in a CTV News. “CSFs (chartered surgical facilities) are one way to add capacity for publicly funded surgeries and are also a part of our surgical recovery planning.” The province has an estimated backlog of about 40,000 surgeries, according to Alberta Health Services. As of July 2021, about 10,000 patients are waitlisted for knee surgery and 3,500 for a hip operation. The backlog has gotten so bad that last year a group of orthopedic surgeons banded with a developer and lobbyists to push the Alberta government to build and operate a $200-million private facility where orthopedic surgeries would be performed under contract with Alberta Health. As is the case across the country, much of Alberta’s backlog built up during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many provinces decided to postpone non-emergency surgeries. According to data compiled by Regina, Sask.-based think tank SecondStreet.org, at least 353,000 surgical procedures were postponed across Canada because of the pandemic. Alberta accounted for close to 17,000 of this estimated total. In its statement, the province said it will be soliciting requests for proposals from private facilities in Edmonton and Calgary, and expects to spend approximately $13 million for orthopedic surgeries in these clinics for 2021 and 2022. Read: Alberta finance minister, health provider want to roll back pay to nurses While it may be welcome news for waitlisted patients, this recent move has some Albertans worried. Kevin Barry, chair of the anti-privatization committee at the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, accused the Alberta government of turning public healthcare into a blackhole that “sucks up public funds” without providing proof of where the money goes. Behind the scenes, he added, “shareholders are devising ways to turn Albertans’ aches and pains into profit.” The move to redirect some orthopedic procedures to private clinics is another step forward in the province’s plan to provide 345,000 surgeries in its current fiscal year, which started in April. This total represents 55,000 additional procedures, on top of the province’s pre-pandemic volume of 290,000 operations a year. To reach this goal, last December Alberta started offering more publicly funded procedures in about 40 private clinics. Shandro said at the time that the province would be expanding on these public-private partnerships. In April, requests for proposals from private surgical clinics were issued for ophthalmology surgeries. Shandro said that by 2023, chartered surgical facilities in Alberta will perform 90,000 publicly funded procedures each year—an increase from previous levels of 40,000 per year. Barry is not convinced this will fix Alberta's backlogged healthcare system. “Health Minister Shandro isn’t just burning public money,” Barry said in a statement. “He’s also selling Albertans false hope because there is zero proof that private surgical providers actually reduce wait times.” Read: Round two of public medicare on trial

Controversy over publicly funded surgeries in private facilities in Alberta

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