More than 5,500 children - some of whom can't hear or see properly - are on waiting lists as long as one year for corrective surgery in Montreal's two pediatric hospitals, The Gazette has learned.

Such delays are medically unacceptable and have caused children and their families considerable anxiety, doctors concede. The Ste. Justine and Montreal Children's Hospitals place the blame on a province-wide shortage of anesthetists and operating room nurses.

"I think it's terrible," said Dr. Melvin Schloss, an ear, nose and throat surgeon at the Children's, adding that youngsters are being "handicapped" during the lengthy delays.

"There are many parents who come into our hospital who just can't believe that children have to wait months to have elective surgery done. I go to great lengths to explain and ease the anxiety of parents about the waiting lists.

"We do everything we can here at the hospital to shorten that waiting list, but it's almost impossible," Schloss added.

It's not simply a matter of the inconvenience of waiting. There are some children who have a crooked eye that needs to be realigned surgically or they risk losing sight in that eye. Others can't hear well because of chronic infections, and the only solution is to surgically install a temporary tympanostomy tube in the ears to drain the fluid.

Then there are children with unsightly cysts or benign tumours on their faces. Each day, as they wait for their plastic surgery, they must endure the humiliation of their disfigurement.

To put the numbers in context, at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children - an institution comparable with its Montreal counterparts - the waiting list for elective surgery stands at less than 1,000. This would suggest waiting lists in Montreal have almost tripled since the late 1990s, when many anesthetists accepted government early-retirement buyouts.

Ste. Justine Hospital did reduce the number of children on its waiting list to 2,550 from 3,138 last year by hiring retired nurses on contract to keep more ORs running. The hospital gave priority to those who had been waiting for more than one year. Still, officials acknowledge yearlong delays continue.

The problem has yet to peak at the Children's, where 3,000 boys and girls are stuck on waiting lists. In fact, Schloss said it's gotten worse, especially for children in need of a tonsillectomy.

Julia Spodek, an 8-year-old girl who likes to draw pictures of models and "nice clothing," has been languishing on a waiting list since April to have her tonsils and enlarged adenoids removed.

Julia's nose is often blocked and she can't sleep at night. Her mother, Mary Spatari, climbs into bed with her and props up three pillows under Julia's head to help her breathe better.

"It's stressful for her and it's stressful for me," said Spatari, a Dollard des Ormeaux clothing designer. "Her quality of sleep is bad. She's more moody because of it."

Julia enjoys swimming, but her mother wouldn't dare sign her up for classes in September for fear of her daughter catching ear infections. Julia's problem with her adenoids and tonsils is a contributing cause of her repeated ear infections, said Schloss, her physician.

Spatari had hoped that Julia would have her operation before her 8th birthday in October. Now, the family has been told the surgery might be scheduled next month, but no date has been set.

"She suffers a lot right now," Spatari said.

The Quebec government has invested millions of dollars to shorten waiting lists for adult patients. Hospitals have succeeded in reducing waiting lists for heart patients who require bypass operations.

The government has posted on its Web site the waiting times for a variety of adult operations - from hip replacements to cataract removals. Statistics are available for each hospital.

No such information is made public for pediatric elective cases.

As with adults, children's waiting lists are reserved for those undergoing elective surgery. That means that the cases are not life-threatening, and therefore they can wait. But Schloss insisted that children should not have to wait more than two or three months.

That's the typical waiting period for most children in Ontario. In the United States, many children in need of elective surgery can get the operation done within weeks or the very next day.

At the Children's, the specialties with the longest waits are ear, nose and throat surgery, plastic surgery and ophthalmology. The hospital has 10 anesthetists but could easily use another five, said Dr. Bruce Williams, chief of surgery.

The Tupper St. hospital is also short by about six OR nurses.

"We certainly would be able to run more operating rooms if we had enough nurses and/or anesthetists," Williams said. "There's no question we have lots of kids waiting for surgery."

He estimated that about 700 children are on a waiting list for plastic surgery. He was unable to provide figures for the other specialties.

Williams emphasized that no child who's in pain waits unduly for an operation. "Anything urgent is done right away," he said.

At Ste. Justine Hospital, anesthetists have agreed to work longer hours to cut down the backlog of cases. The hospital is short by four anesthetists, said Dr.

Isabelle Amyot, assistant director of professional services.

"Clearly, we continue to be vulnerable, given the shortage of anesthetists, despite having enough surgeons," she said.

About 750 children are waiting months for an ear, nose and throat operation at Ste. Justine, 420 for eye surgery and 405 for plastic surgery. Many cases involve congenital malformations.

At both hospitals, waiting lists for heart and neurosurgery are minimal. In orthopedics, the Children's is fortunate to rely on the assistance of the Shriners Hospital.