The return to pre-pandemic levels could even happen later this year, he says.

Quebec on Wednesday reached an agreement with the Federation of Medical Specialists to increase the number of patients who have been waiting in the province for more than a year to 2,500 from 17,500. This target was set for the end of 2024.

At the beginning of 2022, there were about 200 surgical procedures in Bas-Saint-Laurent for which the waiting time was more than a year. That number is now 41.

We are still well positioned. The most likely thing is that we won’t have any more by the end of the yearsays dr Jean Christophe Carvalho.

Of the surgeries, for which the waiting time is six months to a year, 420 currently remain, compared with around thirty before the pandemic.

According to the CEO, the main obstacles to catching up are access to the operating room and hospital beds.

For example, Rimouski Hospital has five operating rooms, but not all of them are working at full capacity. We run three to four programs a day and this is directly related to the lack of manpower, explains Dr. Carvalho. In addition, there are not always enough beds available in the hospital to accommodate patients after surgery.

The most critical issue really is hospital beds, as the pandemic has changed the way we allocate our beds. The work-related challenges we are seeing have resulted in a reduction in the number of short-term hospitalization beds in several hospitals [nombre] absolutelysays dr Jean Christophe Carvalho.

However, about 85% of patients who need surgery have surgery in less than six months, says Dr. Carvalho.

A total of 2,800 operations are pending in the territory of the Republic of Moldova CISSS from Bas Saint Laurent.