Surgical wait times vary across the country, but a 2020 study from the National Library of Medicine<\/a> found that a gynecologist consultation alone can take up to four and a half months on average.<\/p>\n Kaplan-Myrth says long wait times for gynecological surgeries are putting many Canadian women at risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThese are women who are suffering over long periods of time, waiting for a surgery that is considered elective.\u201d<\/p>\n Long delays in gynecologic care stem from systemic underinvestment, competition for surgical resources, and challenges unique to gynecology, says Dr. Nick Leyland, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at McMaster University and president-elect of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC).<\/p>\n Leyland says the problem is being compounded by a lack of reproducible data on how many patients are waiting for surgery, the types of surgery involved and where the delays are occurring across Canada.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re not counted, you don\u2019t count.\u201d<\/p>\n Living with daily pain<\/p>\n It\u2019s a problem Michelle Ganam knows all too well. Sixteen years ago, Ganam was diagnosed with endometriosis and adenomyosis, two gynecological conditions that cause pelvic pain and extremely heavy periods.<\/p>\n \u201cI live daily at a pain level five and during menstruation, at a pain level 11,\u201d said Ganam.<\/p>\n Now at 40, the Smiths Falls, Ont., resident says she was finally approved for a hysterectomy.<\/p>\n Before that, however, she must undergo an ultrasound in February to \u201cassess how much damage the endometriosis and adenomyosis has caused.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Ganam says she was informed the hysterectomy could take another 18 months to book.<\/p>\n \u201cMy fear is that they\u2019re finally going to get in there and then something horrible is actually going to be wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Kaplan-Myrth says she knows she\u2019s luckier than most of her patients. As a physician, she knows how to navigate the system. She contacted her gynecologist, who fast-tracked a biopsy and pelvic ultrasound within days. The tests revealed atypical hyperplasia, a precancerous condition.\u00a0<\/p>\n Within three months, Kaplan-Myrth says she saw a surgeon who scheduled a hysterectomy for October. The entire process took five months \u2014 far shorter than the typical 18-month wait her gynecologist described. But Kaplan-Myrth says she\u2019s acutely aware that most patients don\u2019t get that kind of access.<\/p>\n \u201cI have had\u2026where a patient diagnosed with what would have been very early pre-cancer or early cancer, ended up having to go through chemotherapy and radiation, because ultimately, by the time they finally had their hysterectomy, they had invasive endometrial cancer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n According to the Canadian Cancer Society, an estimated 8,600 Canadian women will be diagnosed with uterine (endometrial) cancer in 2025, and about 1,700 will die from it. It is one of the few cancers with a death rate that has been steadily rising, even though the disease is highly curable when detected early, Kaplan-Myrth notes.<\/p>\n Doctors paid less for surgeries on women\u00a0<\/p>\n Leyland says a considerable pay gap is exacerbating delays in access to timely surgery.\u00a0<\/p>\n In particular, he notes, procedures involving men are often reimbursed at higher rates than comparable \u2014 or even more complex \u2014 procedures for women. For example, he says, in Saskatchewan, a surgeon is paid about 50 per cent less<\/a> to treat an ovarian torsion than a testicular torsion, despite the ovarian surgery being more complex. While fees vary across provinces, Leyland says most surgical procedures performed on women pay at least 30 per cent less than those performed on men<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe issues that women present with are not perceived to be as important as other specialties and patients,\u201d said Leyland. \u201cI don\u2019t believe that, even though I\u2019m a man. I think that both issues are important, but we need to be able to address these issues in terms of fairness and how people are compensated.\u201d<\/p>\n Those inequities, Leyland says, even extend to how operating-room time is allocated to surgeons across Canada.\u00a0<\/p>\n With hospitals chronically underfunded, many operating rooms run only from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with after-hours reserved for emergencies. In such a tight window, Kaplan-Myrth says general surgeons typically receive more operating time than gynecologists.<\/p>\n \u201cOntario\u2019s priority is hips and knees,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd so the orthopedic surgeons who have a much higher volume, they are getting the operating room time and the gynecologists are told, \u2018We\u2019ll find time for you here and there, where we can.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n An added fallout of that, according to Leyland, is gynecologists in training \u201cdon\u2019t get a lot of operating time,\u201d he said. \u201cSo over time they lose confidence in their own ability to do these surgeries.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Close-up](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766074751_736_default.jpg\")
Ottawa family physician, Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth, 51, says she knows firsthand that long wait times for gynecological surgeries are putting many Canadian women at risk. (Submitted by Nili Kaplan-Myrth)<\/p>\n![\"Picture](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766074752_859_default.jpg\")
Dr. Nicholas Leyland, president-elect of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC), says the gender pay gap is exacerbating gynecological surgery delays. (Submitted by Nick Leyland)Limited operating room access<\/p>\n