Quebec Surgery System Faces Critical Strain as Staff Shortages Mount
As of January 10, 2026, Quebec’s healthcare system is grappling with a severe shortage of personnel, leading to significant delays in surgical procedures and raising concerns about patient care. The crisis, described by one leading surgeon as “heading straight into a wall,” stems from a combination of increasing demand and a dwindling workforce, impacting operating room utilization and exacerbating already lengthy wait times.
According to the Ministry of Health, optimal operating room utilization is 40 hours per week. However, data reveals that nearly 30% of operating blocks are used for less than 75% of that time – less than 30 hours weekly. While officials aim for an 85-90% utilization rate, acknowledging necessary time for room rotation and cleaning, significant inefficiencies persist.
“Hospitals have long waiting lists for surgery with rooms available, ‘but which are not working’,” a surgeon explained, attributing the issue to a lack of staff and budgetary constraints. Data indicates that over three-quarters of operating theaters fail to reach the targeted 85% utilization rate. Despite these challenges, some hospitals demonstrate strong performance, with the Montreal General Hospital (105%), Royal Victoria Hospital (104%), Montreal Neurological Hospital (99%), and University Institute of Cardiology and Pneumology of Quebec (96%) exceeding expectations for 2025-2026. Conversely, facilities like the Archipel Hospital (33%) in the Magdalen Islands, the Pontiac Hospital and CHSLD (49%), the Chibougamau Health Center (50%), and the Dolbeau-Mistassini Hospital (52%) lag significantly behind.
Prioritizing Long-Wait Patients: A Double-Edged Sword
Santé Québec’s strategy to reduce the number of patients waiting over a year for surgery appears to be yielding positive results. As of January 10, 2026, approximately 142,200 patients were awaiting procedures, with just over 5,000 waiting more than 12 months – a decrease from the 153,000 patients and 7,700 long-wait cases recorded in February 2025.
However, this progress comes at a cost. Orthopedics currently accounts for the longest wait times, with over 33,600 patients on the list, including 1,580 waiting more than a year. According to Dr. Véronique Godbout, president of the Quebec Orthopedic Association, focusing solely on reducing the longest waits has inadvertently increased wait times for patients needing surgery within the first year.
“The numbers look good for those who have been waiting for a year or more, except that everything below the iceberg has really increased a lot, so the number of patients waiting between zero and twelve months,” Dr. Godbout stated. Another surgeon echoed this sentiment, explaining that reducing the backlog of long-wait patients doesn’t equate to an overall increase in surgical volume. “This reduction…has the effect of increasing the number of patients who wait less than a year, but who have surgeries, probably a little more urgent, and who find themselves waiting longer,” he said.
Furthermore, the orthopedic surgery waiting list may be an underestimation. Some clinics, facing limited operating room time, have reportedly stopped accepting new patients, meaning the true number of individuals needing surgery is not fully reflected in current statistics. Orthopedic surgeons currently operate on average 1.5 times per week, while many report the capacity to perform three surgeries weekly with increased operating room availability.
The “Assembly Line” of Healthcare: A System Under Pressure
Performing surgery requires a complex interplay of medical professionals – including nurses, operating room technicians, anesthesiologists, attendants, recovery room staff, and preoperative clinic personnel – alongside sufficient hospital beds. “It takes the entire assembly line so that we can open additional operating rooms,” a surgeon emphasized.
The consequences of this shortage are felt daily. Just this Thursday, a surgeon was forced to postpone a patient’s surgery, despite the patient having waited nine months, due to a last-minute hemoglobin issue detected in the preoperative clinic. “It’s a failure of the system, it’s a failure of care when they had nine months to do that. But they waited until the last minute, because there were not enough people,” he lamented.
There is growing concern about the lack of specialized medical personnel. “There is a lack of vision and listening in the government to compensate for this lack of manpower,” a surgeon denounced. With Quebec’s population growing and aging, the demand for surgical services is only expected to increase. Projections indicate a worsening shortage of surgeons, prompting the Quebec Surgery Association to repeatedly call for an increase in residency positions. “With that, we’re heading into a wall,” a surgeon warned.
