10 surgeries cancelled at Juravinski this week as hospitals face staff shortage

A number of elective surgeries have been cancelled at hospitals in Hamilton as they navigate their way through the 7th wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hamilton Health Sciences said Thursday that 10 surgeries were cancelled at Juravinski Hospital just this week.

“Service impacts and increasingly high wait times are likely to be an ongoing reality for Hamilton’s hospitals as record-high healthcare worker and physician shortages persist across Ontario and Canada,” Hamilton Health Sciences said in a statement.

On top of staff shortages, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton said hospitals haven’t been able to recruit the number of new hires they usually do, leading to historic levels of vacancies.

The organization said there are currently 293 job vacancies at SJHH.

HHS warned the surgical backlog is expected to continue throughout the summer and beyond.