NBHC Sustainability
May 23, 2018
The Fraser Institute suggests the cost in lost wages of waiting for medical treatment averaged $1,822 per patient last year. The figure ranged from a low of $1,288 in P.E.I., to $2,362 in B.C. Alberta had the second-highest figure, at $2,290. New Brunswick averaged at $2,014 in lost wages. The right-wing think tank estimates that just over one million Canadian workers waited a median of 11 weeks for medically-necessary treatments in 2017. The institute adds that the total of $1.9 billion in lost wages for patients waiting for treatment doesn't account for the average 10-week wait to see a specialist following a referral from a GP.