Good news for people waiting for hip or knee surgery.
The LHIN has approved $1.5 million to help hospitals across its region, including the Quinte area, reduce wait times for hip and knee surgeries, and other high-volume procedures, such as diagnostic imaging for MRI and CT scans.
The allocation means hospitals can target wait time volumes by providing 113 additional hip and knee surgeries, 600 MRI and 1,940 CT scans.
The one-time funding, to be used this fiscal year, will help hospitals across the south east part of the province deliver more timely care to patients who currently face long wait lists.
LHIN CEO Paul Huras says “ Investments like this help provide faster access to the right care and also supports the province’s commitment to putting patients first.”
In Ontario, wait times are measured from time of booking until the procedure has been carried out.
The LHIN says hospitals across the South East LHIN have also committed to implementing a Centralized Intake and Assessment Centre (CIAC) for hip and knee surgery across the region in 2017-18.
Once implemented, the CIAC will help ensure a patient is promptly assessed after referral, managed proactively and triaged to a surgeon based on urgency and appointment availability.
For more information on wait times in the South East LHIN visit http://southeastlhin.on.ca/Resources/WaitTimes.aspx
