Non-urgent surgeries will start to proceed again in the province, Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro announced Monday.
Six weeks ago, the province cancelled those surgeries to create capacity in the health care system to treat people who had contracted COVID-19.
“I’m pleased to confirm that today as part of our government relaunch strategies, we will begin to lift the restrictions on non-urgent scheduled surgeries. Starting this morning, AHS is proceeding with a mix of minor and major surgeries based on the determination that the rate of new COVID-19 infections does not present a significant risk to patients or staff or the capacity of the system," Shandro said.
The health minister said the province will use a careful, phased approach to bring back the surgeries, and will give priority to patients who are at a greater risk if their surgeries are delayed further. If it turns out there is too much risk with this change, Shandro said the government will take a step back if needed.
AHS has created a centralized booking system, and will contact patients on wait-lists to reschedule procedures. As procedures ramp up, the province will continue to evaluate and determine additional procedures that can resume, such as short-term overnight stays.
In addition, independent allied health professionals, including physiotherapists, chiropractors, psychologists and other regulated professionals will be able to resume operations. Other community providers, including optometrists, audiologists and dietitians, are also permitted to resume operations as long as they are able to follow Alberta Health guidance to limit transmission in these settings.
“Our government is working with the professional collages of these professions to develop guidelines for their members who choose to restart their services,” Shandro said.
These guidelines will include physical distancing, use of PPE, cleaning procedure, care of patients with COVID-19 and screening patients.
“The decision to open the clinic remains with the operator,” Shandro said.
