“This year’s $103.8-million capital budget projects include: […] $13.4 million for work on a new medical and surgical intensive care unit and an oncology unit at Saint John Regional Hospital[.]”

“The provincial government has reduced the number of people waiting longer than a year for hip and knee replacements by over 50 per cent, between December 2020 and April 30, 2021. […] From December 2020 to April 2021, the number of people on a waiting list decreased from 747 to 346. As part of a pilot project in Saint John, over 450 hip and knee replacement surgeries have been completed at St. Joseph’s Hospital since Oct. 13, 2020.”

“Shephard said a pilot project at St-Joseph’s Hospital in Saint John will soon cut the growing wait times for knee and hip surgeries. In recent weeks, St-Joseph’s has increased the number of hip and knee surgeries to as many as 20 per week. She said this will help the Higgs government reach its goal of cutting wait times in half by March. Shephard said the province is also running programs to help people waiting for surgery with physiotherapy so they can manage their pain better and, in some cases, eliminate it altogether.”

“Prior to COVID-19 and the cancellation of the elective surgeries, the average wait time for a knee or hip replacements in this province was 450 days. “That would be roughly, the average would be about a year and a half wait for a knee or a hip arthroplasty prior to the pandemic. Now it’s an extra 90 days.” Forsythe said the province hasn’t made any progress with the wait-list. Instead, it has become a lot worse since the first wave of the pandemic, something he finds troubling and discouraging.”