Orthopedic surgery delays expected at one of Edmonton’s biggest hospitals
Posted July 3, 2024 6:24 pm.
Following a decision by the University of Alberta’s School of Medicine regarding its orthopedic residency training program, Alberta Health Services (AHS) has confirmed some surgeries will be postponed.
The U of A moved to consolidate the on-call component of its orthopedic residency training program at the University of Alberta Hospital (UAH).
As a result of this, some elective surgeries that were supposed to happen at the Royal Alexandra Hospital have been impacted.
AHS confirmed to CityNews that they are “working hard to find alternative coverage. Urgent and emergency surgeries will continue at the site.”
Impacted surgeries include elective arthroplasty hip, knee, and shoulder cases, and elective spine cases, which are normally undertaken at the Orthopedic Surgery Centre and the Diagnostic Treatment Centre.
In Edmonton, arthroplasty hip and knee surgeries are continuing as usual at the Misericordia Community Hospital (MCH). Arthroplasty shoulder surgeries will continue at the Sturgeon Community Hospital (SCH) and the UAH as usual. Additional orthopedic surgery capacity is being explored elsewhere.
“We acknowledge that this is extremely frustrating to those impacted patients, and we apologize for any disruption these postponements will cause. We are working hard to get those impacted patients rescheduled as quickly as possible,” said AHS in a statement.
