This just in from the Missouri Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons …
Calgary ophthalmologists say waiting times for cataract surgeries in the city have skyrocketed since the cash-strapped Alberta superboard slashed the number of the procedures it purchased this year. One major clinic said the number of cataract patients on its waiting list doubled to 2,290 from
1,124 six months ago. A second facility said delays were growing so long it had to cancel all mild and moderate cataract cases and is now concentrating only on nearly blind patients. The growing wait times follow Alberta Health Services’ decision to buy about 2,000 fewer local cataract surgeries in 2008-09 compared to the previous year in an effort to cut costs.
In Calgary, the public health system does not perform cataract operations, instead contracting out the procedure to surgeons at private clinics. In recent years, the former Calgary Health Region paid for additional cataract surgeries at the private clinics–beyond the surgeons’ regular quota –in a bid to cut waiting lists. But the practice required the health authority, which has since been replaced by the superboard, to spend over its budget. This year, in the face of a $500 million deficit and a smaller than usual increase in its operating budget, Alberta Health Services said it would stick to its budget for cataract surgeries. The superboard estimates it bought about 8,500 of the procedures in 2008-09 — a significant drop from 10,340 the year before. The decision to buy fewer cataract surgeries is not the only cost-cutting measure at the superboard. In addition, there are new tight restrictions on hiring health workers as well as foot surgeries.
– adapted (by MoSEPS) from Calgary Herald, May 20, 2009, “Wait times soar for cataract surgery in Calgary.”