The number of private surgeries is exploding in Outaouais

In two years, the number of surgeries carried out in specialized medical centers (CMS) in Outaouais has increased by 14,250%, reveals a statistical notice from the Institute for Socioeconomic Research and Information (IRIS). The organization denounces “massive subcontracting” of surgeries to the private sector.

Their number increased from 46, in 2020-2021, to 6,601, in 2022-2023, according to data obtained by theIRIS with the Ministry of Health and Social Services.

In Outaouais, % to 49% in two years”,”text”:”the proportion of surgeries performed in the private sector compared to total surgeries increased from 0.5% to 49% in two years”}}”>the proportion of surgeries carried out in the private sector compared to total surgeries increased from 0.5% to 49% in two yearsindicates the notice from the organization specializing in the analysis of Quebec public policies.

There is really a much more massive and much faster privatization than in any other region of Quebecnotes the researcherIRISAnne Plourde.

She is surprised by the situation, considering that the region is not populous.

We are talking about 5% of the population of Quebec living in the Outaouais, but the Outaouais is responsible for 34% of the volume of private surgeries in Quebec.

A vampirization of resourcesaccording to’IRIS

Researcher Anne Plourde observes a vampirization of public resourcessince the private sector comes to draw its personnel in the same labor pool as public hospitalsshe explains.

Ms. Plourde mentions that the number of surgeries performed in the public sector decreased by 24% in Outaouais, while it increased by 4% in the rest of Quebec.

Although the exodus of staff to Ontario is known in the region, the drop in the number of surgical operations to the public […] retained by the CISSS of the region”,”text”:”is directly linked to the massive privatization strategy[…] retained by the CISSS of the region”}}”>is directly linked to the massive privatization strategy […] retained by the CISSS of the regionindicates the statistical notice of theIRIS.

If we are not able to perform surgeries in the public, it is not because we lack operating theaters. […] It’s because we lack staff.

In addition to denouncing the higher costs of private interventions, theIRIS indicates that the cases the heaviest cannot necessarily be processed in the CMS.

[…] The surgeries that we do to the public are more complex surgeries, with more vulnerable patients”,”text”:”Private clinics will only do the most profitable surgeries and therefore will only do the most profitable surgeries. simple, quickest.[…] The surgeries we do to the public are more complex surgeries, with more vulnerable patients”}}”>Private clinics will only do the most profitable surgeries and therefore will only do the simplest, quickest surgeries. […] The surgeries we do to the public are more complex surgeries, with more vulnerable patients.says Anne Plourde.

It should be noted that the number of total surgeries performed in Outaouais is at its highest level since 2020, according to the Health and Social Services Network Performance Dashboard.

L’IRIS attributes this in particular to a 147% increase in the number of ophthalmology surgeries, which in the vast majority [été] carried out in private clinics in the region.

The private sector has its advantages, believes an ophthalmologist

Created in 2022, the CMS made it possible to care for patients who were waiting to be operated on and to make up for the delays incurred during the pandemic. This is also what partly explains the increase in the number of surgeries performed privately today.

The head of the ophthalmology department at the Gatineau Hospital, Dr. Stéphanie Chan, believes that the transfer of surgeries to the private sector was a big plus for his specialty.

During the pandemic, our waiting list exploded by two years easily because we just didn’t have any operating timenotes Dr. Stéphanie Chan.

Same story for the director of professional services and clinical relevance at CISSS of Outaouais, Dr. Geneviève Gagnon, who explains that the region’s operating theaters have lost a lot of staff since the pandemic.

Many nurses left the operating theaters after the wave of pandemic load shedding for positions in Ontario or positions for which there is less work pressureshe adds.

A few years ago, the vast majority of the hospital’s ophthalmology surgeries were transferred to the Specialty Medical Complex 819, she explains.

One of the means put in place to increase access to surgeries for patients is to create an extension of our operating theater within private clinics in the region which have a [équipement] operating room to carry out surgeries that are normally done in the hospital, confides Dr. Gagnon.

We were able to do our surgeries much faster. We can do more cases per day.

Since this agreement with the CMS, months at most”,”text”:”our waiting lists are approximately 6 months at most”}}”>our waiting lists are around 6 months at mostsays Dr. Chan.

She indicates that surgeons working in ophthalmology at the Specialty Medical Complex 819 have the same salary as the public.

We still have to carry out our responsibilities at the hospital like guardsshe says.

The majority of staff were recruited from a hospital in Ottawa, then other specialized clinics [donc] not necessarily in ophthalmology or operating theaters [de l’Hôpital de Gatineau, selon la médecin.

Elle croit que les CMS sont appropriés pour les chirurgies en ophtalmologie, pour lesquelles le volume de patients est beaucoup plus important que pour d’autres spécialités.

Tout le monde fait des cataractes à un moment donné dans leur vie, donc on a besoin [de faire du volume] to be able to serve the populationbelieves Dr. Stéphanie Chan.

In a written response sent to Radio-Canada, the office of Minister of Health Christian Dubé confides that the number of surgeries performed annually in Outaouais has increased by nearly 50%, while surgeries pending for more than a year have reduced by 45% thanks to CMS.

Behind these figures are patients, and it is for them that we work. What do Quebecers want? Having better access to care is the prioritywe can also read.

When we send patients from the public to the private sector, it is the patients who win because they get their care without having to pay.

For Dr. Geneviève Gagnon, the agreement with the CMS makes it possible to direct patients who would wait a very long time on the hospital waiting list to already equipped clinics. It also justifies the explosion in the number of surgeries carried out in CMS in Outaouais by the fact that it was necessary create access for patients of the region.

Outaouais, double loser?

All of this data does not surprise Action santé Outaouais.

We have an exodus from the public to the private sector. Then, there is a transfer of human resources from Outaouais to Ontario. We are doubly losers. An alternative solution will have to be found between the public and the private sector.says the president of the board of directors, Denis Marcheterre.

What is worrying in Outaouais is that I have the impression that we are witnessing a discreet disengagement of the State. As citizens, we have the right to ask ourselves questions.