'Game-changer' in orthopedic care at Markham Stouffville Hospital aims to slash wait times

Rapid Access Care model helping people 'get back to life' without debilitating joint and lower back pain

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 29, 2019
Heidi Riedner

Access to the right care, faster, is the goal of a comprehensive model at Markham Stouffville Hospital (MSH) that will significantly decrease wait times for patients.

Most people experiencing joint and lower back pain end up waiting more than a year to see a specialist after getting a referral from their family doctor.

That, however, is just the beginning of the waiting game, especially if they aren’t a candidate for surgery.

Most spend additional months waiting for either a surgery date or for an appointment with a specialist if physiotherapy is their best treatment option.

For people languishing in the queue, often suffering debilitating pain, a streamlined Rapid Access Care model at Markham Stouffville Hospital will provide welcome relief by dramatically reducing wait times for treatment --from over a year to just weeks.

The hospital is the first in the province to add foot and ankle and shoulder care to the ministry of health’s rapid access care model.

While several hospitals have been providing hip and knee, as well as lower back and spine, care under the model since 2006, Markham Stouffville Hospital is the first to cover all four major orthopedic areas.

And that is a major “game-changer,” according to Dr. J. Stephen McMahon, an orthopedic surgeon at Markham Stouffville Hospital and the York Region surgeon lead for the musculoskeletal hip and knee program.

Proud of the care the unit has been able to provide patients to date, McMahon said he looks forward to serving even more people under the newly expanded model and “helping them get back to a life without joint or lower back pain.”

Instead of the old system, patients now will receive a consultation with an advanced practice physiotherapist, usually within two weeks after a referral is received from a family physician.
Based on assessment results, the patient will either be booked for surgery within two months or quickly referred to another practitioner --such as a physiotherapist or sports medicine physician.

“Surgeons like myself will be seeing only the most appropriate, pre-selected patients, avoiding needless appointments and saving our health-care system valuable dollars,” said Dr. David Santone, who heads up the foot and ankle clinic.

The hospital’s joint assessment centre is part of the larger orthopedic unit, recently renamed in honour of the Canadians of Pakistani Origin.

It has contributed a total of $2.5 million during the past decade it has been supporting the hospital, which has funded priority medical equipment, innovative technology and emerging hospital needs, said hospital foundation CEO Suzette Strong during the renaming event earlier this month.

“The continued generosity of my fellow Muslims and Pakistanis is truly motivating,” said Markham councillor and group co-founder and chair Khalid Usman.

"We are committed to coming together to support the health-care needs of our rapidly growing and aging population."

Last year, Markham Stouffville Hospital performed close to 3,400 orthopedic procedures using leading-edge equipment and technology that is funded by donors like the Canadians of Pakistani Origin.

“As an orthopedic surgeon, I have the pleasure of seeing firsthand the impact that the organization’s generosity has on patients and their families and on our ability to provide world-class care to our community,” Dr. Syed Haider said.

Haider performed knee replacement surgery on Margo Bibby. In addition to a short wait time, Bibby praised the care she received getting a new titanium knee. That included a faster recovery time with less pain thanks to new approaches to surgery.

That was also the case for Toronto paramedic Glyn James, who had his left hip replaced with what’s known as the direct anterior surgical approach.

Markham Stouffville Hospital has the largest group of surgeons in the Greater Toronto Area doing the muscle-sparing approach that involves less anesthetic, less blood loss and a shorter time in surgery than old-style hip replacement surgery.

“I had my right hip replaced in 2016 at another hospital and I was in agony for more than six weeks during my recovery following the surgery,” James said.

“With my hip replacement at MSH, it was like night and day. I was able to get up two hours after the surgery, I was home the next day and back at the gym in less than a week.”