Province is dragging its feet on $50M in funding earmarked to ease surgery backlog: NDP

Manitoba's New Democrats are accusing the Progressive Conservatives of being slow to spend $50 million they committed to help the province chip away at a surgery backlog that worsened amid pandemic shutdowns.

Less than $2.5 million, or nearly five per cent, has been spent five months after the announcement, according to a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) request filed by the NDP and provided to media.

"This means that there are people suffering right now in Manitoba waiting for surgeries unnecessarily," NDP Leader Wab Kinew said Tuesday after question period.

"If you are waiting for a surgery or somebody that you know is, you're going to be pretty upset by this document and you're going to want to bang on this government's door and just tell them to spend the darn money, help people get the surgeries that they need."

The crush of patients in successive waves of the pandemic led the province to cancel thousands of surgeries in an attempt to free up hospital resources for those ill with COVID-19.

In January, then health minister Heather Stefanson committed to clearing the backlog.

The province earmarked $50 million for the issue in an announcement in March, shortly before a third COVID-19 wave inundated Manitoba's healthcare system. The resulting FIPPA document covers spending from the end of March to the end of August.

During question period on Tuesday, Kinew accused the government of failing to follow through on its promise to help expedite the thousands of delayed surgeries over the past 18 months.

Premier Kelvin Goertzen says all provinces are facing pandemic surgery backlogs.

If you are waiting for a surgery or somebody that you know is, you're going to be pretty upset by this document and you're going to want to bang on this government's door and just tell them to spend the darn money, help people get the surgeries that they need."- NDP Leader Wab Kinew

"We want to ensure that we're dealing with the backlog as best as possible, maintaining the healthcare system for other needs," he said during question period.

This summer, Doctors Manitoba published a report suggesting 110,000 Manitobans were awaiting tests and surgeries as of June in a "staggering" and growing problem. That included 44,000 waiting for diagnostic imaging tests, 39,000 surgeries and 32,000 other procedures.

The organization called on the province to create a surgery and diagnostic recovery task force to tackle the issue, as well as commit to a specific date for getting the backlog cleared. They also asked for monthly progress reports. 

Doctors Manitoba renewed those calls less than a month later following the release of data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. 

The CIHI report suggested Manitoba led the country in cancelled surgeries and procedures during the second wave of the pandemic last fall. The provincial average for cancellations at that time was four per cent; Manitoba's was 29 per cent, according to CIHI.

Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont (St. Boniface) emphasized the need for a surgery backlog task force on Tuesday.

"We can't just throw money at it because the fact is the PCs have damaged our health-care system so badly that we cannot just ramp up," he said. "We desperately need urgent investments in nursing, in supplies and in operating rooms. … It's extremely distressing that the PCs seem to have no plan whatsoever."

CBC News requested further response from the province but has yet to receive a reply.