Windsor Regional Hospital has made a small dent in the surgical backlog as it continues to work on restoring pre-COVID surgical capacity.

Currently, there are around 4,020 patients waiting for non-urgent and non-emergency surgeries. In November 2019, there were 6,370 surgical backlogs.

The hospital has reduced some of the backlog by increasing same-day joint procedures and moving cataract surgeries to community facilities.

“We have been, I think, doing great compared to what we were like pre-pandemic but there’s still a massive backlog. There are still many patients waiting for surgery and there is a lot of frustration,” said Chief of Staff Dr. Wassim Saad.

Windsor Regional Hospital has added 35 surgical beds with support from the government and is hoping to implement another 18 beds if the funding can be secured.

“If we had the additional 18 beds that we’re asking for, and hopefully more than that, then we would at least be able to make up some ground and catch up on some of the surgical backlog that we have,” said Dr. Saad.

Capacity at each hospital continues to be over 100 per cent. There are currently nine patients admitted primarily for the treatment of COVID-19.

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