The CEO of Interior Health says the process to resume non-urgent elective surgeries is well underway across the Health Authority as all 16 hospitals across that do surgical procedures are up and running.

Susan Brown says over 1,300 people have already been contacted to try and reschedule a date for their surgery.

“They will not lose their spot on the waitlist if they choose not to proceed at this time,” she said during an IHA Town Hall held on Monday. “From May 19 to the 24th, we’ve completed more than 700 surgeries – well on the way back to as much of a normal circumstance as we can.”

Across Interior Health, 3,000 surgeries were postponed between mid-March and mid-May, as B.C. looks to reschedule 30,000 elective surgeries that were cancelled province-wide to clear space in hospitals for COVID-19 patients.

There were over 93,000 on the waitlist for a surgery, and the province expects all existing operating rooms to be running at full capacity by June 15.

“We’re trying to understand who’s on our waitlist that are urgent that need to have their surgery with four weeks, and then the next group that we are interested to understand is anybody who’s actual condition has deteriorated a little bit, or they are in pain, we’re trying to get those people in as quickly as possible,” Brown added.

“And then also looking at where we can maximize surgeries that people don’t have to stay overnight and then procedures that can be done outside of an operating room, for example cataracts. So we’re trying to maximize those two others to take any strain off the operating rooms.”

Across B.C., surgeries resumed after the May long weekend, and Health Minister Adrian Dix says it could take almost two years for the province to clear the entire backlog at a cost of $250-million.

“From June 15 to October 15, we will add resources and capacity by extending daily hours of operation, adding Saturday’s and Sunday’s to the schedule and opening new operating rooms,” he noted.