Stopgap surgery accord reached

By Don Plant Saturday, April 12, 2008 Vernon Daily courier

A standoff that interrupted hundreds of orthopedic surgeries in Kelowna is close to being resolved. Surgeons at Okanagan Health Surgery Centre and officials with Interior Health hammered out an agreement in principle Thursday night that promises to restore elective day surgeries at the private operating facility for another year. I‘m happy,” said Terry O‘Farrell, an orthopedic surgeon and part owner of the surgical centre. “I believe we‘ll meet next week and hopefully sign a contract. We‘ll start (operating at Okanagan Health) shortly after that.” IH terminated its contract with Okanagan Health on April 1, deciding to use another private surgical centre in Kelowna that hasn‘t been built yet. That contract begins in 12 months. The health authority asked Okanagan Health to perform the surgeries until April 2009 on a short-term contract. When the owners demanded 20 per cent more funding, IH backed off and made arrangements to provide the operations at Kelowna General Hospital. The surgeons were furious. They said the arrangement would affect 600 patients awaiting knee, shoulder and other publicly funded operations scheduled at the Richter Street centre. They sent letters to patients, explaining their cases may be delayed 18 months. Health Minister George Abbott said he‘s optimistic Okanagan Health will resume doing the operations through next April. “This is great news,” he said Friday at a centennial celebration at KGH. “The current contractors were looking for something in excess of 20 per cent. I gather in the current discussions they‘re looking at a lesser figure.” No one would disclose Friday how much the negotiated rate increase will be.

Surgeons have been performing extra day surgeries at KGH to make up for the shortfall, O‘Farrell said Friday. He doesn‘t anticipate patients on the wait-list will have to wait much longer than if the standoff had never happened – about three to four months. “We‘re doing some of them (orthopedic day surgeries) now at KGH,” O‘Farrell said. “A few weeks‘ delay won‘t significantly delay these wait times.” IH had planned to keep an operating room open in the evening at KGH for 50 weeks a year instead of 40 and possibly keep operating rooms open longer in the summer as a stopgap. It‘s not clear whether those measures will be necessary once a deal is reached. Joanne Konnert, IH‘s chief operating officer for the Okanagan, expects the deal to be signed within two to three weeks. “As soon as it‘s finalized, we‘ll start the surgeries. Both sites have said they can start fairly quickly, but we won‘t start until we have a contract signed,” she said. “Sometimes there are hiccups on the road. As long as we keep in mind what we‘re here for – to look after patients and families – we can generally resolve most difficulties.”