Albertans and Airdronians will have access to thousands more publicly funded orthopedic surgeries in Calgary as part of the Health Care Action Plan (HCAP).

The Health Care Action Plan, which was published in November, listed reducing surgical wait times as one of its top priorities. The government of Alberta is hiring more privately run facilities for publicly financed operations in order to help reach this aim.

“Albertans, many of whom are in pain, are waiting too long for life-changing knee and hip surgeries in Calgary. Our Health Care Action Plan will accelerate adding more surgeries both at hospitals across Alberta and at chartered surgical facilities to bring down wait times to the waiting period recommended by medical experts,” explained Jason Copping, Minister of Health.

Under a new agreement with Alberta Health Services that goes into effect this month, Canadian Surgery Solutions will provide more than 3,000 extra hip and knee replacements as well as other joint treatments annually.

According to Mauro Chies, interim president and CEO of Alberta Health Services, “This contract will ensure AHS continues to improve access to surgical care for many Albertans. Our teams have been working hard to increase surgeries for Albertans, to bring down surgical wait times. Working with vendors such as Canadian Surgery Solutions will help us with this goal. Thank you to our partners and all of the teams at AHS who are working together to make this happen.”

In hospitals all around the province, including in Calgary, Edmonton, Edson, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, and Rocky Mountain House, new operating rooms are being added. Operating room expansion and construction will be funded with $133 million over three years in Budget 2022.

For orthopedic surgery in Alberta, around 21,200 people are waiting.

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