Elective surgeries could start soon.

The province says it has a framework to open surgeries and procedures which have been stopped because of COVID-19 preparedness in hospitals across the province. Thousands of surgeries have been delayed and recently Health Minister Christine Elliott says there were at least 35 cardiac patients in the province may have died because their surgeries were delayed.

The framework has a clear criteria to be met before hospitals can resume scheduled surgeries, including ensuring that the hospital and its region have the following:

• A stable number of COVID-19 cases;
• A stable supply of personal protective equipment;
• A stable supply of medications;
• An adequate capacity of inpatient and intensive care unit beds;
• An adequate capacity of health human resources; and
• The availability of post-acute care outside the hospital that would be required to support patients after discharge.

“We know there is a big backlog ..we want to be able to step it up as soon as we can,” says Elliott.