Windsor Regional Hospital has a long road ahead when it comes to elective surgeries.
Chief of Staff Dr. Wassim Saad says both campus' are now running at close to 100 per cent capacity since the lockdown was lifted in Windsor-Essex last month, but the hospital still faces a backlog of close to 3,000 elective procedures as of Sunday afternoon.
He says procedures will need to run at 120 per cent capacity for more than a year to catch up.
"Let's say everything goes back to normal right now, we would have to go above 100 per cent for a significant amount of time," he says. "Likely 18-months or more to catch up on the backlog and keep up with current demand."
The hospital is prepared to extend hours for procedures to increase capacity, according to Saad.
"Combining the funds that could be available from the Ministry [of Health] to help support this as well as the capacity in the hospital, yes, it's doable," he says. "A lot of things have to go correctly, including missing the third wave in order for us to be able to do that."
Hospital CEO David Musyj says a pilot project to free up beds will be another tool to help with the backlog.
"Shoulders, knees, and we've already started doing hips, but same day across the province and we're one of the pilot projects selected for that," he added.
All emergency procedures and cancer treatments have continued throughout the pandemic.
Saad says any attempt to catch up on elective procedures hinges on whether the region goes through another lockdown.
Experts expect a third wave of the virus caused by variant strains this spring.