Progress continues to be made on the cardiac surgery waitlist in Newfoundland and Labrador, following the agreement signed in May between Eastern Health and the University of Ottawa Heart Institute. To date, planning for approximately 20 patients is underway for transport to Ottawa for surgery, two surgeons from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute visited Newfoundland and Labrador in June and completed cardiac surgeries, and an additional two surgeons are scheduled for July. In addition, Eastern Health has recruited a new cardiac surgeon who will be starting in July.

Within the arrangement, University of Ottawa Heart Institute surgeons can operate here in this province or, depending on the circumstance, patients may travel to Ottawa. Members of the cardiac care team from both the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and Eastern Health collaborate and work together. The short-term strategy of sending patients to Ottawa will help address concerns with cardiac surgical backlogs which had increased due to COVID-19 and the recent cyber-attack.

As part of the ongoing efforts to address challenges within the health care system, a surgical task force was also recently established to look at the surgical backlog and provide a meaningful response. The task force will make recommendations to the Minister of Health and Community Services regarding innovative solutions to manage the surgical backlog.

Additionally, Health Accord NL was created in November 2020 to reimagine the health care system to best deliver services to people in communities across the province. It was mandated to deliver a 10-year Health Accord with short, medium, and long-term goals for a health care system that better meets the needs of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. A number of these initiatives are already underway, with additional recommendations announced as part of Budget 2022. Recruitment and retention pressures, particularly in rural areas, were addressed as part of Health Accord NL.

These initiatives are part of a suite of measures the Provincial Government has implemented over the past while to help improve the delivery of health services to Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, as well as deal with the recruitment and retention challenges related to health care professionals. Some of the initiatives include:

• New collaborative care clinics have been established;
• Expansion of recruitment initiatives is ongoing;
• Focus placed on attracting qualified health care professionals from around the world;
• New Assistant Deputy Minister of Health Professional Recruitment and Retention is in place;
• Hired a new provincial midwife;
• Increased the number of graduating health care professionals;
• Five new seats added to Memorial University’s Medicine Program;
• Launched a plan for wait list for hip and knee joint replacement surgery;
• Increased investments for physician services;
• Improved access to mental health services;
• Collaboration with health care professionals to improve the workplace environment;
• Improved access to virtual care;
• Construction of new hospitals and long-term care homes; and,
• Improvements to ambulatory and paramedicine resources.

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“We remain focused on improving access to care for our residents and the development of a better coordinated, modern health care system that meets the needs of the people it serves. Working with our stakeholders, our priority continues to be the appropriate delivery of health services. The measures we have implemented – and continue to implement – are steps in the right direction.”
Honourable John Haggie
Minister of Health and Community Services

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Media contact
Laura Thomas
Health and Community Services
709-729-6986
laurathomas@gov.nl.ca