Budget cuts pushing MUHC to cancel 1000 to 1500 surgeries

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Dr. Gerald Fried, the MUHC’s surgeon-in-chief, issued a letter to staff estimating elective surgeries would be reduced by between 20 and 30 per cent because of a funding shortfall. (Jaela Bernstien/CBC)

Health Minister Barrette ‘surprised’ Dr. Gerald Fried levelling blame on government.

Dr. Gerald Fried, surgeon-in-chief at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC),  has written a letter to hospital staff in which he estimates that the number of scheduled surgeries will have to be cut by between 1,000 and 1,500 because of “significant cuts” by the government.
Quebec cut funding to the MUHC based on a 85 per cent occupancy rate, however, the hospital claims its occupancy rate is closer to 91 per cent.  The cuts are based on a 2007 agreement between the government and the MUHC.
At the time of the agreement Arthur Porter was the MUHC Director General and CEO. Porter was later arrested in Panama on fraud charges related to the construction of McGill University Health Centre’s new $1.3 billion hospital.
Health Minister Gaétan Barrette acknowledged there will be a reduction in day surgeries, however, he denied that budget cuts were to blame.
Manuel Fernandes VP MUHCEU believes that the government has no alternative but to revisit the 2007 agreement.
“Considering the MUHC Director General and CEO involved in the 2007 agreement was  later charged with fraud, in what an RCMP investigator claimed was the biggest corruption fraud in the history of Canada.Therefore, the government has no alternative but to revisit the agreement to ensure there were no hidden motives.”
Source CBC News