Manitoba completed a record number of hip and knee replacement surgeries last year, thanks to provincial investments, the dedication of surgeons and other health-care professionals, and a surgical partnership with the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority.
Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Uzoma Asagwara visited the Selkirk Regional Health Centre on June 19 to announce the addition of 200 more hip and knee replacement surgeries this year.
Selkirk’s surgical program completed more than 800 hip and knee replacements last year, accounting for a significant share of the provincial total of 7,056 procedures.
The province invested in 1,000 net new surgeries last year. The remaining 200 surgeries will be distributed to centres across Manitoba that have the capacity to perform them.
Selkirk’s contribution to the hip and knee replacement program was lauded by the health minister, who called the made-in-Manitoba capacity-building effort “awesome” and thanked Selkirk for “delivering real results for Manitobans.” Selkirk helped reduce provincial wait times for people suffering from pain and decreased mobility.
“That is going to make a huge difference for Manitobans who need this care every single day. And I want to thank all of you for making that a reality in this province,” said Asagwara, who was joined by the IERHA’s chief executive officer, surgeons from Selkirk and Concordia hospitals, nurses, Shared Health’s surgical lead, a knee replacement recipient and Justice Minister Matt Wiebe.
“This additional investment of over 1,000 new hip and knee surgeries in Manitoba contributes to our province setting a record. Our province last year was able to do 7,056 hip and knee replacement surgeries. That is the largest number we have ever been able to do, and I’m looking right at you folks on the team. You know how hard you worked to get that done. That is a record for Manitoba.”
Asagwara said they met with Dr. Edward Buchel, Shared Health’s provincial surgery specialty lead, a few years ago to discuss what the government needed to do to ensure Manitobans could receive hip and knee surgeries in Manitoba “so that we’re not sending people out of the province, out of the country to get this essential health care.”
Out of the country is exactly where Selkirk resident and knee replacement recipient Melanie Shumilak wants to go — after she receives her second new knee — to climb waterfalls.
Shumilak said she suffered from arthritic knee pain for 10 years and had to be “talked into” getting a knee replacement after hearing reports of people experiencing difficulties after surgery.
She loved to walk and hike, but those activities declined as her condition worsened, and she found herself “unable to climb any waterfalls when I travelled to Iceland two years ago.”
She had a consultation with orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Thomas Turgeon, who works out of Concordia and Selkirk hospitals, and she was scheduled for surgery in Selkirk six months later.
“I was working out with two braces for over 10 years, using walking sticks and, of course, taking pain medication daily,” said Shumilak. “After I was referred, I started hearing more and more happy stories, successful stories, and my trepidation subsided somewhat. One friend had both knees done eight months apart and was back Ukrainian dancing. So I agreed.”
She underwent outpatient surgery in April. By about 3:30 p.m. on the day she received her new knee, she walked out of Selkirk Regional Health Centre.
“I have a new appreciation for the importance of mobility. Through my recovery, I’ve graduated from a walker and crutches to minimal use of a cane, and now I’m preparing for round two. I’m 68 years old and I want my mobility back in both knees, so I’m looking at having my second knee done in Selkirk in September. Thanks to the expansion of the hip and knee program, the wait time is reduced,” said Shumilak. “I’m not a Ukrainian dancer, but there are still many waterfalls I want to climb.”
Shumilak’s surgeon, Dr. Thomas Turgeon, said developing Selkirk into a successful hip and knee surgical centre was a “team sport” that has reduced surgical wait times and changed lives “one joint at a time.”
“The creation of the hip and knee replacement program here in Selkirk has been a significant undertaking. To take a facility that had no orthopedic procedures being performed at it and convert it into a high-volume arthroplasty centre providing world-class service and outcomes in just over a year is no small feat,” said Turgeon, who briefly left Manitoba for specialized training in the United States and was nearly recruited to a position in a desirable coastal city before deciding to return home.
“And it was no accident. This required coordination and commitment from surgeons and anesthesiologists, nurses, rehabilitation professionals, administrative staff, support services and the leadership team all working together toward a common goal. The expansion here in Selkirk demonstrates what can be achieved when health-care professionals across disciplines collaborate to improve access to care. Health care is a team sport, and I’m so proud of what this team has accomplished and continues to accomplish.”
When asked whether diagnostic wait times have affected hip and knee replacement surgery wait times, Turgeon said surgeons do not require CT scans or MRIs for the vast majority of cases. An X-ray is generally all that is needed.
Buchel said it was “amazing” that Selkirk exceeded its surgical targets while staying on budget and was “one of the few places in our province” to do so for high-acuity, highly complex surgeries in such a short period of time.
That success has helped Manitoba lead the country in the number of hip and knee replacement procedures completed on an outpatient basis.
“This change has allowed us to deliver care here and free up space in our main trauma centre so that we can do acute care in those areas and continue to provide the care that’s desperately needed,” said Buchel. “What does this do? It improves our wait times. In March 2025, our median wait time for hip replacement surgery was 39 weeks. A year later, that has dropped to 22 weeks. That means half of our patients are waiting 22 weeks or less, with the Canadian Institute for Health Information standard being 26 weeks.”
Fewer than four years ago, the province was completing about 3,500 arthroplasty surgeries annually. That number has now doubled to more than 7,000, he added.
With hip and knee surgical wait times reduced, the province has also recruited more than seven new arthroplasty surgeons.
“Recruitment of surgeons is very difficult. It takes many years,” said Buchel. “But I can tell you that right now we have recruited more than seven arthroplasty surgeons over the last two years.”
The 200 additional hip and knee surgeries will be distributed among surgical centres including Concordia Hospital, Health Sciences Centre, Selkirk Regional Health Centre and Brandon Regional Health Centre, he said.
Showing medical residents that Manitoba has the capacity to support their careers will help recruit those who leave the province for specialized training, Buchel added.
“When they go away for one or two years, other people can poach them from us. We want them back. The number is seven who have come back, and four residents are going away for training — and we want them back. We’re telling them we want them back. We’re giving them commitment letters to come back, and we’re building the capacity so they can come back and do something.”
IERHA president and chief executive officer Marion Ellis thanked everyone involved in the health-care system — from surgeons and registration staff to rehabilitation and allied health professionals — for contributing to Selkirk’s success as a hip and knee surgical centre.
“When we were asked to be part of the provincial surgery initiative — every year we get an opportunity to develop a plan and we submit it to government — we’re sometimes cautious and sometimes ambitious. But this time it was government that came to us,” said Ellis.
“And we wanted to make sure we didn’t disappoint patients and didn’t disappoint those who were putting confidence in all of you, the team, whose everyday efforts make this happen. So we thank you for that as well. Sincerely.”
