The Compounding Access Problem for Surgical Care

Surgical outcomes, such as mortality and complication rates, can be substantially affected by delays in care. For emergency surgery, access to “round-the-clock” operating rooms, personnel, and surgeons is associated with lower mortality rates.1 Long delays in care for essential nonurgent surgery, including cancer operations, can lead to lower overall survival and higher complication rates.2,3 The reasons behind surgical delay are multifactorial,...