Backlog Caused by Cancelled Surgeries Could Take Years to Address: Health Policy Expert

Involving the private health sector would help reduce strain on the public system, says Bacchus Barua

Ambulance workers take a patient to the emergency unit at Lasalle Hospital in Montreal on April 27, 2020. The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz

With provinces beginning to re-open after the pandemic shut-down, one of the most pressing issues is how to improve the health-care system so as to be better prepared for a possible second wave.

One health policy expert thinks it’s time to consider reforms that will allow the private health sector to relieve the strain on the public system caused by cancelling elective surgeries and other treatments to free up services for COVID-19 patients.