Outaouais surgeon warns of an operating-room staffing crisis

Waiting list

120+ patients, one surgeon

Dr. Maxime Guieu, who is about to head general surgery at Santé Québec Outaouais, has more than 120 patients on his waiting list.

Operating rooms for general surgery are available two days a month, down from five or six in January. Cancer patients now wait about three months for surgery, when one month is the target, he says.

Santé Québec Outaouais CEO Marc Bilodeau says closing the Gatineau operating room at night is not planned, and that the region lacks nurses and anesthesia specialists. He says the authority is seeking outside specialists to avoid breaks in anesthesia service.