Halifax hospital to prioritize surgeries cancelled by sterilizer problems
Nova Scotia Health Authority says extra operating rooms, careful scheduling will cut down wait times
Most of the surgeries cancelled because of a sterilizer malfunction at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax will be completed over the next couple of months, the health authority announced Thursday.
Between April 20 and May 5, 563 surgeries were cancelled. Karen Mumford, the senior director of the QEII, says around 80 surgeries have been completed, and another 80 to 90 have been rescheduled.
In a statement, the Nova Scotia Health Authority said senior surgeons and administrators created a plan to minimize wait times.
The plan includes:
- Additional operating room time at the QEII over the summer.
- Using operating rooms at Nova Scotia Health Authority facilities near the QEII.
- Using external facilities (they will be limited to Scotia Surgeries' facilities).
- Scheduling to provide operating room time for postponed patients, with urgent patients being given priority.
- If there is a cancellation, urgent and postponed patients get priority
Mumford says the hospital is still seeing as many cases as they normally do — 100 to 120 a day. She said they have to plan and budget around the equipment they have.
For example, Mumford says they don't have the capacity to do five hip surgeries back-to-back because they require the same tools. Day surgeries can be done at other facilities.
Dartmouth General already does day and inpatient surgeries. Hants Community Hospital does day surgeries.
The Halifax Infirmary will get a new $500,000 sterilization system to replace malfunctioning equipment that has caused these delays.