Growing wave of Albertans pay for private surgery in US as pandemic delays accumulate

“I just said, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to do this’ … I can’t imagine going through that kind of pain for two to three years and then risking other kinds of complications.”

Gibson decided he wouldn’t wait. He booked his surgery at a private hospital in Whitefish, MT, and paid just under $ 30,000 to have the surgery done eight days ago.

The waiting time was about a month.

“I would absolutely do it again,” he said.

Nearly 50,000 delayed procedures

Paying out of pocket for private surgeries south of the border is nothing new. But it appears more Albertans who can afford it are doing so as surgery delays linked to the pandemic accumulate.

The province postponed all elective surgeries to September as hospitals were overwhelmed with critically ill COVID-19 patients.

According to the most recent figures released by the Government of Alberta, approximately 15,000 surgeries have been canceled so far in the fourth wave, in addition to 30,000 procedural delays in the first three waves.

“They choose to go elsewhere because we cannot provide the care. It’s very painful, ”said Dr. Jim Mackenzie, orthopedic surgeon specializing in hip and knee replacements at the South Health Campus in Calgary.

Its wait times have increased by at least 50% since the start of the pandemic. Patients now wait about four years from the time they are referred to see him until they have surgery.

“It creates desperation. More and more people are going elsewhere. People are paying to have private surgery in Toronto. They are paying to go to the United States. And I would say the number of people accessing it has increased dramatically in the United States. the last year, “he said.

It’s not just rich Albertans, according to Mackenzie.

“I know people who have come out of the country for surgery because their livelihood depended on having their hip repaired,” he said. “A carpenter unable to work because his hip is bad – he can’t afford to wait two years and not work. So paying $ 35,000 so he can go back to work is a reasonable way to see it. things.”

Busier than ever

Just a five-hour drive south of the border in Kallispell, MT, Mary Strauss hears from many more Alberta patients.

She is the pivot nurse for Canadian patients at Logan Health, which operates five area hospitals, including the Whitefish Institution where Gibson underwent hip replacement surgery.

“With your delay due to the pandemic and the closure of all electives, patients were told there would be an extended delay… and that’s pretty much the driving force for them to look at other options for care, ”Strauss said.

She estimates that the number of Alberta patients has increased by 50% in the past two months, with most in need of orthopedic surgery.

“By the time the patients arrive here, their lives have already been changed because of the pain.”

Rick Baker, founder of Timely Medical Alternatives, a Vancouver-based company that organizes private surgeries for Canadians, is busier than ever.

“In the past 12 months, we’ve made probably five times more surgeries easier for Albertans than five years ago,” he said.

“We are currently working with 52 Canadians in the United States [and] 80 percent of them are from Alberta.

Meanwhile, Mackenzie said it helps other patients in the public system because it frees up space on the waiting list.

But he thinks there is a big downside as well.

“It does nothing to help pressure the public system to enact changes or to create momentum for some kind of policy change and to improve access for everyone.”

While paying thousands of dollars out of pocket for private surgery is an option for some, there are plenty more who will continue to wait because they just can’t afford it.

“It’s a horrible way to train,” Mackenzie said.

“Having to tell them how long it will last for the surgery – there are tears. There is a lot of anger. It’s not a good place to be.”