P.E.I. couple borrows $25,000 for private hip surgery in Quebec amid long wait times
Neil and Janet Payne of Kinkora faced an 18-month wait for a hip replacement in the public system, prompting them to seek private care in Montreal.
KINKORA — A Prince Edward Island couple borrowed $25,000 to pay for a private hip replacement in Quebec after facing a projected 18-month wait in the public system.
Neil and Janet Payne of Kinkora, who dubbed their journey "Le Hip Trip," opted for the private clinic in Montreal after Neil Payne's severe osteoarthritis left his right hip joint "totally gone." The condition reached a critical point following a hike on Cape Breton’s Seawall Trail.
He was forced to stop working last November and enter the public waitlist. After nine months of waiting, the couple was informed the remaining delay would likely stretch another 12 to 15 months.
"We didn't have $25,000 just sitting around in the bank waiting for a hip," Janet Payne said, acknowledging the debt will likely delay their retirement and impose long-term financial strain.
The rapid turnaround in Montreal, where Neil Payne received dedicated nursing care and was well enough to travel home the day after surgery, stands in stark contrast to the prolonged deterioration experienced by those remaining in the public queue.
Colin Craig, president of the Regina-based think-tank SecondStreet.org, argues the underlying issue is a structural stagnation that has persisted for decades, failing to adapt to an aging demographic.
SecondStreet.org’s research challenges the misconception that private medical travel is exclusively the domain of the wealthy. Polling indicates approximately nine percent of Canadians earning less than $60,000 annually have paid out-of-pocket or traveled to another jurisdiction to bypass wait times.
That figure rises only slightly to 11 percent for those earning over $100,000.
Health P.E.I. defended its record in a statement, noting it cannot comment on specific patient cases. The median wait time for hip replacements in the first quarter of the 2026-27 fiscal year was 282 days, a slight increase from 276 days the previous year.
The 90th percentile wait, representing the most complex or delayed cases, improved from 519 days to 476.
Janet Payne emphasized that the couple remains philosophically committed to the principle of publicly funded healthcare. "What's going on right now is just not acceptable. People are really suffering," she stated.
For Neil Payne, the successful surgery has restored his mobility and allowed him to return to hiking and engaging with his grandchildren. The financial and emotional cost of "Le Hip Trip" serves as a potent indicator of the limits of Canadian medicare in the 2020s.
Amara Okafor covers health, medical research and public health in Canada for Novello Desserts.