January 22, 2026
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre partnered with Health System Performance Network and the Ontario Hospital Association to conduct an evaluation of the Toronto Regional Arthroplasty Collaborative (TRAC). After demonstrating the program’s significant impact on reducing wait times for arthroplasty surgeries, the evaluation also includes recommendations for how the TRAC’s care model can be used to address challenges being faced by the broader health care system.
The TRAC program was launched in 2023 in collaboration with Unity Health Toronto and Michael Garron Hospital, with the goal of reducing wait times for hip and knee replacement surgeries in Ontario. By enabling arthroplasty surgeons from across Toronto to operate at Sunnybrook and opening additional operating room time on the weekends, TRAC has increased capacity for arthroplasty surgery, allowing over 1000 more patients each year to receive hip or knee replacements.
2,600
+
Hip & knee replacement surgeries completed
97
%
of surgeries performed within the target wait time
965
Fewer overnight sleeps in FY24/25
The evaluation for TRAC took place from April 2018 to March 2025 to assess trends before and after the implementation of the program.
The key takeaway from the evaluation is that, there has been a significant increase in the volume of hip and knee replacements, while wait times for surgeries and related visits to the Emergency Department (ED) are decreasing. This means that not only has the TRAC program allowed more patients to receive hip or knee replacement surgery, but it has helped patients receive those procedures even faster. Of all regions in Ontario, Toronto Central reported the shortest wait times for hip and knee replacement surgeries.
Not only are patients receiving quality care, quicker, but they are also recovering at home, with 965 fewer overnight stays and the average length of stay gradually decreasing.
These results highlight an opportunity for how partnership and integrated care models like TRAC can address capacity and wait time challenges seen across the health-care system nationally.
“At the system level, the TRAC partnership serves as an example for how an integrated regional care model can eliminate long wait times across an entire region,” says Ru Taggar, Co-Chair of the TRAC Executive Committee and Executive Vice-President and Chief, Nursing and Health Professions Executive at Sunnybrook. “This evaluation demonstrates the potential of models like TRAC, and how they can be implemented across specialities and regions to lead system transformation and enhance access to care.”
The TRAC program allows partner organizations in the region to pool resources and maximize operating room capacity to benefit the entire Toronto Region and even expanding access to shorter wait times for patients across the province. The TRAC program successfully improves access to surgery, without compromising on quality or disrupting existing referral patterns to hospitals and surgeons.
The TRAC program is shortening wait times, getting more patients the surgery they need and maximizing resources through collaboration, highlighting the model’s potential for creating transformation across the health system.
Media contact:
Anna McClellan
Communications Advisor, Public Affairs
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
[email protected]
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