Ontario Announces Next Steps on Expansion of Community Surgical and Diagnostic Centres

On Wednesday, January 17, 2024, Ontario’s Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Sylvia Jones, announced the next steps in Bill 60, Your Health Act to reduce wait times for surgeries and diagnostic procedures in Ontario. The government proposes further regulatory changes that would enable Accreditation Canada to become the inspection body responsible for ensuring quality standards and oversight of the 900+ current and all future community surgical and diagnostic centres in Ontario. These changes are intended to be effective as of April 1, 2024.

Following the government’s first round of regulations under the Integrated Community Heath Services Centres Act (ICHSCA) consulted on last summer, the Ministry of Health has proposed three additional amending regulations to further support the implementation plan for Bill 60. These include:

I. A proposed regulatory amendment under the ICHSCA to name Accreditation Canada as the new inspecting body for ICHSCs.

a) This change would apply to all ICHSC licensed services (existing and future licenses).

b) This regulatory change would remove the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) and College of Midwives of Ontario (CMO) as the prescribed inspection bodies under the ICHSCA for licensed services.

II. A proposed housekeeping amendment to Regulation 552 under the Health Insurance Act (HIA).

a) This would set out the new date of the most recent Schedule of Benefits - Physician Services, which will be updated to replace references to the repealed Independent Health Facilities Act (IHFA) with the new ICHSCA.

III. A proposed regulatory amendment to Part XI of O. Reg. 114/94 to be made by the CPSO under the Medicine Act, 1991.

a) This would add the ICHSCA to the list of Acts governing health facilities that are not subject to the CPSO's out of hospital premises inspection program.

The Ontario government first introduced Bill 60, Your Health Act, on February 21, 2023, to help advance its plan to reduce wait times for surgeries, procedures, and diagnostic imaging in Ontario.

What Does This Mean

‍The proposed regulatory amendments are intended to streamline processes, oversight, and standards to ensure patients receive care faster and closer to home.

Accreditation Canada has over 65 years of experience and will be responsible for developing an oversight and quality assurance program for all existing and future community surgical and diagnostic centres in Ontario. These standards are intended to have the same requirements as public hospitals.

April 1, 2024, has been earmarked as the effective date for these new regulatory measures. The government has also identified Spring 2024 as the timeframe for advancing the next step in expanding the number of community surgical and diagnostic centres licensed in the province to deliver additional OHIP-insured services, including MRI/CT scans, GI endoscopies and orthopedic surgeries.

‍What’s Next

‍There is an opportunity for stakeholders to provide comments and feedback on the proposed regulatory amendments. The deadline for comments is February 16, 2024. Details on how to comment can be found here.

The government intends to hold a series of consultations with health system stakeholders, regulatory colleges representing providers, and patients and families as the quality assurance program is being developed.

Sussex Strategy Group will be monitoring these next steps closely and will continue to keep you informed.