Two orthopaedic surgeons in Whitehorse have advised their colleagues they are not taking referrals for orthopaedic surgeries until further notice.

In a letter sent to Yukon doctors in an email on April 4, Dr. Scott Westburg and Dr. Adam McIntyre said “the waitlist for orthopaedic surgery in the Yukon has grown exponentially and is well beyond what is manageable with current local resources.”

The attachment went on to say, “We cannot reliably maintain the standard of care until certain sustainability measures are implemented, and we must focus our efforts on treating our active patients and those who are already waiting.

“Therefore, consultation requests received by April 4th, 2024, will be seen at the earliest possible opportunity. Consultation requests received after April 4th will be rejected until further notice.”

The letter from Westburg and McIntyre concluded, “We recommend that all semi-urgent consultation requests are referred out of territory to avoid delay in management for these patients.”

Yukon Party health critic Brad Cathers raised the matter in the legislature Monday.

“Last week, a letter went out to Yukon doctors notifying them that as of April 4, the orthopaedic program will no longer be accepting orthopaedic surgery referrals for an indefinite period of time,” he told the House.

“The explanation provided by surgeons is: despite over two years of negotiations with the government — quote: ‘… there has been no increase in operational funding or support for the orthopaedic surgery program that would help us accommodate the rapidly growing demands of our steadily increasing population.’

“Population growth and an aging demographic require an increase to local surgical services, including orthopaedics,” Cathers said.

“Why has the minister of Health and Social Services (Tracy-Anne McPhee) failed again to support increased funding for hospitals, leading to more cuts of important surgical services here in the Yukon?” he asked.

McPhee replied with some statistics on orthopaedic surgery in the territory. The Yukon has the two resident orthopaedic surgeons, with help from locum surgeons.

In 2022-23, a total of 104 joint replacement surgeries were completed in the territory,” McPhee said.

“As of the third quarter of 2023-24, there have been 67 joint replacement procedures completed.”

The orthopaedic agreement allows for a total of 100 joint replacement procedures per year, “and this allocation has incrementally increased since the introduction of the program in 2017,” McPhee said.

“I think it’s important for Yukoners to recall that prior to 2017, there were no such services available here in the territory.”

Cathers said she had not answered the question.

“It sounds like she has an old briefing note. It is clear from this letter that the surgeons say that they have been trying to prevent this cut in service for several years, but despite their efforts to work with this Liberal government, they haven’t been able to secure enough support and resources from the government to continue these important surgical services for Yukoners,” Cathers said.

“The letter says — quote: ‘We hope to resume accepting elective consult requests within the near future once stability has been restored to the orthopaedic surgery service.’

“Can the minister tell Yukoners when her government will provide the necessary resources to provide stability to this program so that these surgical services can be restored?”

McPhee said the Department of Health and Social Services is working with the Yukon Hospital Corp. to secure the resources and to increase the number of total joint replacements per year.

“I appreciate that health human resources challenges here in Canada and here in the Yukon do affect the number of surgeries that are able to be completed in the run of a year,” she said.

“We certainly hope to work to continue to increase that number, as it has been since 2017.”

Cathers then raised the higher travel costs due to Yukoners going Outside for orthopaedic procedures.

“What impact on the medical travel budget does the minister expect this to have, and why is she not working with Yukon hospitals and health care professionals to expand our surgical capacity for orthopaedics and other important surgeries?” he asked.

McPhee responded, “Our hope is that these temporary issues will be resolved quickly. We have worked with the hospital corporation to determine appropriate funding for the core transfer payment agreement for this year. That amount of $110,000 (actually $110 million) is in the 2024-25 budget, which I certainly hope members of the opposition will consider supporting.”

Cathers met with reporters after question period.

“We know that there have been a lot of pressures on surgical services, including but not limited to orthopedic surgeons,” he said.

“And what is disturbing is that yet again, the minister seems to be completely out of touch with what is going on within our health care system, including in this important area, where we know there was already a long waiting list of Yukoners waiting years for orthopaedic surgery. This recent announcement will only grow that waitlist further.”

Cathers said his party receives a lot of input from Yukoners waiting for orthopaedic surgeries.

“We receive concerns from people all the time about long wait times for orthopaedic surgery and the negative impact that it has on their life while they’re waiting for procedures such as hip and knee and dealing often with chronic pain as a result of that,” he said.

McPhee seemed “to be unaware of the situation,” he added.

Cathers said the government doesn’t seem to be making surgery wait times a priority.

“It’s something that we feel is not reflecting the needs of Yukoners who want the issues of surgery wait times to be front and centre on the government’s mind, and they want to see government taking steps to reduce the wait times for surgeries.”

Cabinet communications advised the Star Tuesday morning, “Since supporting the launch of the resident orthopedic surgery program in 2017, our government has continued to work with resident orthopaedic surgeons and the Yukon Hospital Corporation to expand the program, respond to challenges, and review the program.

“We are aware of the concerns raised by the resident orthopaedic surgeons and the potential impact on elective consultations,” said the communications staff’s emailed statement.

“We are committed to working with the Yukon Hospital Corporation (YHC) and the orthopedic surgeons to mitigate these concerns.

Last year, the government budgeted $107 million for the Yukon Hospital Corp. in the 2023-24 fiscal year main estimates.

This year’s main estimates has raised that i amount to a total of $115.5 million.

As of January, the wait time to access a total knee or hip replacement was between 16 and 21 months, with 284 individuals on the wait list.

“As announced in Budget 2024-25, our government has also been working with the YHC to conduct a thorough review of health care infrastructure, aiming to adopt a more long-term view that adequately addresses the needs of current and future generations,” the statement added.

It concluded, “We understand the stress that wait times for orthopaedic surgeries can cause, as many of us know someone who is on the waitlist.

“That’s why our government is committed to working closely with the YHC and orthopaedic surgeons to address these concerns and help ensure Yukoners receive the care they need.”