Media Alert - Release of 2010 Report Card on Wait Times in Canada

OTTAWA, June 14 /CNW Telbec/ - On June 17 the Wait Time Alliance (WTA) will release its 5th Report Card, a document that will give Canadians a better picture of wait times to access a broad range of medical care. This report card will be the second time the WTA has gone beyond reporting on access to the initial 5 "priority areas" targeted by First Ministers in 2004.

Details on the report card will be released during a technical briefing via teleconference with the media at 11:00 am (Eastern time). Key findings will include:

    
    -   grading of progress in the original 5 "priority areas" and beyond
        those areas using WTA benchmarks;
    -   results from the Canadian Paediatric Surgical Wait Times Project;
    -   grading of provincial wait-time reporting.

    The Wait Time Alliance Teleconference Technical Briefing with media will
    take place:

    Date and Time:   June 17, 2010 at 11:00 am (Eastern)

    Speakers:        WTA co-chairs, Dr. Lorne Bellan (English spokesperson)
                     and Dr. Jean-Luc Urbain (French spokesperson)

    Dial-in number:  866-696-5910 or 613 233-1979
    Pass code:       8337540
    (Instant replay: 800-408-3053 - pass code: 5472054)

    Documents:       Documents will be available at 9:00 am on June 17, 2010
                     under embargo until 11:00 am. For copies email:
                     [email protected].
    

Individual interviews with spokespeople from the WTA member societies can be arranged after the technical briefing.

The Wait Time Alliance of Canada (WTA) is a partnership comprised of the Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society, the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology, the Canadian Association of Nuclear Medicine, the Canadian Association of Paediatric Surgeons, the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology, the Canadian Association of Radiologists, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Ophthalmological Society, the Canadian Orthopaedic Association, the Canadian Psychiatric Association, the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons and the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada.

For further information: Lucie Boileau, Telephone: [phone] ext. 1266, Cell.: 613 447-0866, [email protected]