MGH and Sunnybrook launch creative solution to reduce waits for hip and knee replacement patients

Toronto Regional Arthroplasty Collaborative (TRAC) will allow hip and knee surgeries to flow through the Holland Centre on weekends.

As of April 1, 2023, Sunnybrook’s Holland Centre and Michael Garron Hospital (MGH) have come together to launch the Toronto Regional Arthroplasty Collaborative (TRAC) to help reduce wait times for hip and knee joint replacement surgery (or arthroplasty) in Ontario.

By opening its operating room (OR) on weekends, the Holland Centre is providing pre-scheduled access to orthopaedic surgeons from other TRAC partnering hospitals – which will increase the number of patients who can receive arthroplasty surgery and shorten everyone’s wait.

“This collaboration is expected to create an additional 1,335 surgical cases a year to reduce the current hip and knee backlog by 25 per cent in the Toronto Region by March 31, 2024,” says Ru Taggar, co-Chair of the TRAC Executive Committee and Executive Vice President and Chief, Nursing and Health Professions Executive at Sunnybrook. “Together, we plan to demonstrate how a creative solution to surgical backlogs can be implemented and based on solid evidence-based results.”

This collaborative solution centres around an existing high-performing orthopaedic hospital surgical centre – the Holland Centre – and leveraging and expanding its central intake model to help improve access to care and hasten access to orthopaedic surgery.

TRAC will receive patient referrals from across the GTA and procedures will be performed at the Holland Centre – a stand-alone hospital surgical site that has been dedicated to orthopaedic surgery and care for almost six decades at its current location. As an established Centre of Excellence for hip and knee arthroplasty surgery, the Holland Centre is a North American leader in bone and joint care, education and research.

“In addition to increasing the numbers of hip and knee arthroplasties performed, this model will also free up OR resources at MGH for other important surgeries,” says Dr. Carmine Simone, executive member of TRAC and Vice President of Medical Affairs at Michael Garron Hospital.

Patients will still have the option to go the traditional route and choose a specific hospital or a specific surgeon for their care, or they can request the first available surgeon through TRAC.

“Our patients who choose to go through TRAC’s partnership will also receive the full spectrum of orthopaedic care – from assessment to surgery, through to recovery,” adds Dr. Simone. “Either way, our patients will receive the high-quality care they expect and we will work together to make the experience as seamless as possible.”

-30-

Visit ReduceMyHipandKneeWait.ca for more information about how it works, how to be referred, and expected benefits for patients, primary care practitioners, surgeons and the healthcare system.