Ontario Further Reducing Wait Times for Surgeries and Diagnostic Procedures

When it comes to surgical wait times, Ontario won’t accept the status quo.

As part of the next steps to implement Your Health, the provincial government is proposing regulatory changes that would name Accreditation Canada as the inspection body responsible for ensuring the highest quality standards and strong oversight of the 900+ current and all future community surgical and diagnostic centres, effective April 1, 2024.

Accreditation Canada has been chosen to develop an enhanced oversight and quality assurance program for current and future community surgical and diagnostic centres that will have the same strong requirements as public hospitals in order to improve quality standards at facilities and ensure consistent patient safety and quality health care.

Over the coming weeks, the province will consult extensively with health care sector partners, regulatory colleges, and patients and families on the development of the new oversight and quality assurance program.

Through actions taken as part of Your Health, Ontario achieved the shortest surgical wait times of any province in Canada in 2023, with a nearly 80 per cent of people receiving their procedure on time and 16,000 fewer people waiting for surgery since the surgical waitlist peak in March 2022.

Beginning in Spring 2024, we will also take the next step in expanding the number of community surgical and diagnostic centres licensed in the province to deliver additional OHIP insured services to people closer to home, including more MRI/CT scans, GI endoscopies, and orthopedic surgeries.

As Ontario continues to make progress implementing Your Health, the government will continue making bold, innovative and creative changes to make it faster and easier for people to conveniently connect to care closer to home.

Learn More: https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1004077/ontario-taking-next-steps-in-plan-to-further-reduce-wait-times-for-surgeries-and-diagnostic-procedures