May 15, 2023
Manitoba Government Commitment to Increased Surgical Capacity at Boundary Trails Health Centre Provides Care Closer to Home
– – –Day Surgeries Increasing Capacity Across Province: Gordon
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MORDEN-WINKLER—The Manitoba government increased surgical capacity for hip and knee replacements and other orthopedic surgeries right here in Manitoba, providing more Manitobans a better quality of life and increased mobility as facilities like Boundary Trails Health Centre implement same-day surgeries, Health Minister Audrey Gordon announced here today.
“We are healing health care and improving the lives of many Manitobans who need orthopedic hip and knee surgery by listening to health-care experts,” said Gordon. “We are providing more life-improving care for thousands of people and their loved ones by building capacity for joint replacement surgery. This additional capacity in Southern Health-Santé Sud means patients receive care closer to home and reduces the need to travel to Winnipeg.”
Boundary Trails Health Centre is one of several health-care facilities across the province that provide hip and knee replacement surgeries. In 2022-23, the centre completed 639 hip and knee replacement surgeries, 139 more than planned, because of funding for increased arthroplasty surgery volumes.
Additionally, more than half of the joint replacement surgeries completed last year at the facility were considered ‘same day,’ meaning that patients who can safely recover at home do not require an overnight stay. This helps ensure hospital beds remain available to those who need them most and builds capacity for other parts of the facility, the minister noted.
“Offering more day surgeries for hips and knees is good for our health-care system and good for Manitobans,” said Dr. Hany Asham, orthopedic surgeon, Boundary Trails Health Centre. “Recovering at home after same-day surgery gives patients the comforts of their own environment as they heal and access physiotherapy and rehabilitative treatments as part of our continuum of care.”
The minister noted this important local success story highlights the importance of the significant capital renovation project underway at Boundary Trails Health Centre. This expansion will add acute care inpatient beds and provide a larger, modern space for patient programs with an investment of over $64 million. The Manitoba government’s investment in this project is part of a broader, provincewide plan to build, expand and renovate health-care facilities in support of Manitoba’s Clinical and Preventive Services Plan.
“I am proud to celebrate the success of the hip and knee program at Boundary Trails Health Centre,” said Jane Curtis, CEO, Southern Health-Santé Sud. “It is thanks to the Diagnostic and Surgical Recovery Task Force and our dedicated orthopedic team that we were able to significantly increase the number of hip and knee replacement surgeries completed last year.”
Projects funded through the Diagnostic and Surgical Recovery Task Force (DSRTF) help to increase overall surgical capacity including the number of hip and knee surgeries performed across the province. Last year, more than 6,000 procedures were completed with nearly 600 funded through the task force including hip and knee replacement surgeries at the following health-care facilities:
- 639 at Boundary Trails Health Centre in Morden-Winkler;
- 856 at Brandon General Hospital in Brandon;
- 1,974 at Concordia Hospital in Winnipeg;
- 2,169 at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg;
- 76 at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg; and
- 290 at facilities outside of Manitoba, offered through interim agreements to build short-term capacity.
Overall, about 10 per cent of these procedures were completed as day surgeries.
“Every day in my practice, I see how hip and knee replacement surgery can transform a patient’s life,” said Dr. Peter MacDonald, chair of the DSRTF steering committee and an orthopedic surgeon. “Now that we are not only offering same-day joint surgeries across the province but exceeding those targets due to increased capacity, more Manitobans are regaining their mobility and experiencing reduced or eliminated joint pain, faster.”
The Manitoba government established the DSRTF in December 2021. This team of respected local health-care professionals identifies and implements short- and long-term solutions to improve surgical and diagnostic waitlists and make overall lasting improvements to Manitoba’s health-care system.
For more information about the DSRTF, visit www.gov.mb.ca/health/dsrecovery.
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