March 9, 2007

TORONTO – The McGuinty government is supporting a new orthopaedic assessment centre at The Scarborough Hospital that will reduce wait times and improve access to total hip and knee joint replacements for up to 6,000 patients a year, Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman announced today.

“The Scarborough Hospital is taking a leadership role in improving access to total hip and knee joint replacement services for local patients,” Smitherman said. “By developing this innovative delivery model, the hospital is supporting our government’s goal to help patients receive quality services faster.”

The government is sponsoring the establishment of the orthopaedic assessment centre at The Scarborough Hospital’s Grace campus. The centre, which will serve as a resource for the Central East Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), will emphasize the assessment and treatment for osteoarthritis while reducing wait times for total hip and knee joint replacements.

A specially trained team of multidisciplinary staff will assess patients and provide care planning and referral to services.  This results in orthopaedic surgeons spending less time in the office and more time in the operating room, which helps increase the number of cases performed and improves access for patients. The assessment team will operate one-day per week out of the Rouge Valley Ajax Pickering site in order to provide better access to local residents.  The centre will have the capacity to handle approximately 6,000 patient visits per year.

"This new model of care will mean that more people will get timely access to the health care they need," said Hugh Scott, President and CEO of The Scarborough Hospital. "We're proud to be partnering with the Rouge Valley Health System, Central East Local Health Integration Network, and the Ontario government to provide the best health care possible."

• The program will also have the capacity to expand and include patients with a range of chronic and acute musculoskeletal needs.  This will provide an opportunity to implement and evaluate the Orthopaedic Assessment Centre as the first phase of a more comprehensive Musculoskeletal Centre of Excellence for the Central East LHIN.

“This new program to reduce wait times will have a positive impact for local residents,” said Brad Duguid, MPP for Scarborough Centre. “The Scarborough Hospital’s Grace Campus has an important role to play in providing quality health services in a timely manner.”

“Our government is proud of partnerships such as this which puts patients’ needs first,” said Gerry Phillips, MPP for Scarborough-Agincourt. “The health professionals and staff at The Scarborough Hospital are dedicated to improving care for residents in our community.”

The McGuinty government has taken a leadership role in reducing wait times in Canada by:

• Investing more than $614 million through Ontario’s Wait Time Strategy since 2004 to provide nearly 740,000 additional procedures for five key areas (cancer surgery, cardiac procedures, cataract surgery, hip and knee replacements, and MRI/CT scans)
• Creating a public website that provides information on wait times in hospitals across the province
• Supporting a number of innovative and more efficient models of care delivery, such as Kensington Eye Institute, that are changing how health care is accessed in Ontario.

Today’s initiative is part of the McGuinty government’s plan for innovation in public health care, building a system that delivers on three priorities – keeping Ontarians healthy, reducing wait times and providing better access to doctors and nurses.

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