The Saskatchewan government and the SHA are reporting the highest provincial volume of surgeries recorded during a nine-month period. A government release states that as of December 31, 71,850 procedures have been performed, which is an increase of 6,000 procedures over December 2022.
"Thousands more patients are receiving the procedures they need thanks to the tireless effort, leadership and collaboration of our surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and care teams," Health Minister Everett Hindley said. "Our government will continue to work closely with our partner agencies to continue supporting health care professionals in improving the quality of life for patients in our province."
The release goes on to state that aggressive surgical targets are in place to surpass last year's highest surgical volume of over 90,000 procedures, to ensure 90 per cent of surgeries are performed within 10 months and that no patients are on the waitlist longer than 18 months. From October 1 to December 31, 2023, the surgeries performed or offered exceeded the 90 per cent target.
"The ambitious targets we set for ourselves this year pressed us to redesign our programs and processes to build a more sustainable model that opened up more surgical capacity and ultimately leads to more surgeries," SHA Provincial Surgical Services Executive Director Cindy Graham said. "As we work to be more efficient and streamline how we provide high quality service, we are guided by our commitment on a patient-centered care approach that provides timely access to a more robust surgical program."
The government says further expansion of resources will be possible through the work of the Government of Saskatchewan's Health Human Resources Action Plan.