Island Health asks private clinics to handle thousands of surgeries

Vancouver Island's health authority wants private clinics to take on up to 4,000 surgical procedures a year in an attempt to reduce wait times and free up hospital operating rooms for more complex procedures.

Island Health currently has partnerships with three facilities on Vancouver Island, but the latest request for proposalsfrom private clinics will bethe largest contract.

Dr. Paul Whelan,Island Health's executive medical director for surgical services and heart health, says demographic changes and population growth has led to surgery backlogs in recent years.

"This is a way of creating capacity without investing a great deal of capacityin fact, no capitaland it responds nicely to changes in mix of cases and volume of cases," Whelan told On The Island's Gregor Craigie.

The contract would be for five years, and would see Island Health physicians perform procedures such as joint surgeries, hernia repairs and gall bladder removals in private clinics.

Island Health is also looking for providers to deliver up to 4,000 endoscopies on the South Island and up to 3,000 on the Central Island over the same five-yearperiod.

All surgeries performed at the private facilities will remainpublicly funded, Whelan said.

The private clinics must be accredited and meet the standards and guidelines set out by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia.

The request for proposals allows the private clinics to provide for-profit surgeries, butWhelan said Island Health patients will take priority.

To hear the full interview with Paul Whelan, listen to the audio labelled: Island Health to sendout thousands of surgeries to private clinics