The number of children waiting to be operated on at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children has risen since the start of the pandemic.
Some 5,600 children, most of whom are under the age of 10, are currently waiting their turn to enter the SickKids operating room.
In March 2020, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, an estimated 3,800 children were in line for surgery.
A SickKids spokesman was unable to speak to CP24 today, but earlier numbers have been confirmed.
They also said that 61 percent of scheduled surgeries at SickKids are now out of the recommended clinical window amid the delay. This compares to 35 percent before the pandemic.
Speaking to reporters during a media briefing on Friday morning, First Re-elected Doug Ford said children are “obviously” a priority when it comes to delayed surgeries, though he noted that “other areas are also a priority.” .
Ford said it believes PCs have pledged an investment of about $ 180 million to address the delay in surgeries across the province.
“We will invest money in this to make sure that we clear up the delayed surgeries. And we hope that by the end of this year we will have a good part, if not all, cleared up, so I have been told by the ministry,” he said. “We need to make sure our operating rooms work 24 hours a day, MRIs 24 hours a day, whenever possible.”
The Ontario Medical Association has previously estimated that the province has a surgical backlog of more than one million procedures.
He has asked the province to fund a new model of outpatient care centers to help deal with the backlog.