Four Month Wait for Surgery

VANCOUVER - Canadians are waiting longer for elective surgery, according to a new report from the Fraser Institute.

The right wing think tank says the median wait time for surgery across the country has grown to just over 18 weeks, the first increase since 2007.

Prince Edward Island at 44.4 weeks and New Brunswick at 33.6 weeks have the longest wait times, although the Fraser Institute says the figures may not be exact because of a lower number of survey responses from those provinces.

Ontario has the shortest wait time at 14 weeks, while Manitoba's wait time is 17.5 weeks and B.C. and Quebec are tied in third place with a wait time of 18.8 weeks.

Mark Rovere, the Fraser Institute's associate director of health policy research, says the fact that Canadians are waiting more than 127 days for medically necessary treatment is alarming.

He says instead of throwing more money at the health care system, politicians need to try policies used in other countries, including cost-sharing, competition and private health care.

By The Canadian Press