Friday, April 24, 2009

Manitoba flunks national wait time test for MRI's, closes in on knee replacement target

A quick overview of
The Canadian Institute for Health Information "Wait times tables, a comparison by Province, 2009",

Wait times as reported by Canadian provinces for the period April-December 2008 -- note that trends are based on 3 year averages where suitably measured data is available

* Page 3- Summary Table 1
Overall benchmark performances in the 7 categories based on 182 day/26 week target
- Manitoba fails to reach benchmark of 75% in knee replacements within 26 weeks; this refers to Page 7/table 5, where the exact figure is 71%.

* Page 4 Summary Table 3
Provincial wait time trends for the 7 procedures that have benchmark targets
- Manitoba is the only province where wait time for MRI's increased
- Manitoba and Ontario do not track coronary artery bypass surgery recovery times
( Note: the data for Manitoba cataract waits is blank - not shaded, no arrow. It is blank. So who knows what it means?)

* Page 6 Table 4
Wait times for hip replacements (in Manitoba definition fo the procedure includes smoothing)
- 80% of Manitoba are seen by benchmark of 182 days/26 weeks, above the national median, and trending down

* Page 7/Table 5
Knee replacement
- Manitoba achieved only 71% of benchmark target of 75% within 182 days/26 weeks

* Page 9/Table 7
Coronary bypass wait time
- Manitoba is at 96% of benchmark, but the
only provinces doing worse are BC, NB and NL

* Page 20/Table A6
Provincial MRI wait time trends (for Manitoba, defined as 'estimated maximum wait times")
Dec 06 56 days
Dec 07 42 days
Dec 08 91 days
- Manitobans' wait time for MRI's has more than doubled in the past year.
(Note this area seems a bit of a mess nationally except for Alberta and NS , with some provinces not reporting at all, and others having huge waits of over 100 days because of different definitions of "wait", and other factors.)
*****************
Today at 4 PM,
- Our analysis and your calls about the wait time report, and the nursing shortage;
- Spirited Kenny will have some new insight into the 511 system and about a weather event that precipitated his investigation which sparked action by bureaucrats and politicians to act on the file;
- more about CBC's As It Happens broadcast this past Tuesday (Yom Hashoa/Holocaust Memorial Day) that glorified the virtue of Nazi Germany's obsession with breeding extinct cattle; and
- At 5.20 PM, Jon Waldman of Slam!Sports updates us on the Stanley Cup playoffs and answers the question, why does San Jose even bother trying to win the Conference and get into the playoffs if they're going to play so lousy?
Next Monday at 4 PM, Mayor Sam Katz appears for the first hour.
and ... Hail Aurtarlia !
(On a personal note, today is the 15th anniversary of the inaugural Rough House Rasslin' theatresport production, a venture that eventually led to the freeing of 'performance wrestling' in Manitoba from the oversight of the white-out wielding, incompetent, and corrupt Boxing Commission of that long-ago era. Always produced in association with the Osborne Village Inn, most notably as part of the Canada Day Festival in the Village, RHR also originated the NIMBY campaign against dangerous backyard wrestling with the support of the Manitoba Safety Council.
The events have always been a source of deep pride for those involved. On behalf of myself and Chi Chi Cruz, our deepest thanks to the many fans of the shows for your support over the years, and for your support of Canadian professional wrestling.)