Toronto Star

Ford blasts optometris­ts group over costly protest

Job action is running province’s health-care system $250,000 a day

- ROBERT BENZIE JESSE MCLEAN

Premier Doug Ford warns optometris­ts protesting his government are making a spectacle of themselves by sending some patients to hospital emergency rooms in the middle of a pandemic.

As first revealed by the Star, the Ontario Associatio­n of Optometris­ts is encouragin­g its more than 1,700 members to redirect at least one patient a day to hospitals or other healthcare providers.

The job action, which is designed to put pressure on the government during negotiatio­ns over fee payments for those patients covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan, is costing the public health system $250,000 a day.

Ford said the optics are terrible at a time when health-care providers are coping with a COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more than 2,800 Ontarians since March.

“You just can’t overload the system. It’s not fair to everyone, it just isn’t,” the premier told reporters Thursday during a campaign-style tour of Windsor.

“What you’re doing is you’re hurting the community and from what I’ve heard … it’s backfiring on you,” he said.

“It’s not a great practice. I love those docs, they do a great job, but, guys, you just can’t overload the ... hospital system. We’re already backlogged on so many areas, on surgeries.”

Ford said he is willing to meet with the optometris­ts to resolve the dispute.

“It’s better to sit down and talk rather than clog up all our hospitals across the province,” he said.

The optometris­ts, who began the protest in June, maintain they lose money when treating patients covered by OHIP — those under 20 and over 64 or who have specific medical conditions.

They are paid $44 on average per visit, which they say actually costs them $80 or $90.

Dr. Sheldon Salaba, the optometris­ts’ associatio­n president, said it was a “difficult decision” to launch the job action.

“We’re in a desperate situation. We can’t afford to see these patients in this environmen­t because of this funding inequality,” said Salaba.

“I understand that it’s inconvenie­nt for people ... but we didn’t create this problem,” he said. Patients who have been turned away from their optometris­ts and sent to hospitals are frustrated their care was caught up in a funding dispute.

Kate Boose, from the Waterloo Region, woke up on July 6 with blurriness in her left eye. She chalked it up to allergies. But when it hadn’t gone away after a day, she called her optometris­t’s office — only to be redirected to a hospital in Kitchener.

Boose wasn’t the only one sent to the emergency department for eye exams.

“I was the fifth eye patient they had seen that day. They said it was a really high number for a regular day,” she said. “I understand that the optometris­ts feel like they’re underfunde­d…but in the midst of a pandemic, I don’t feel like this is a wise decision.”

Ellen Eppert sympathize­s with patients who feel like they’re chess pieces in a spat between the province and its optometris­ts, but says the “temporary” inconvenie­nce is worth it if it means optometris­ts are fairly compensate­d.

Last fall, Eppert’s optometris­t in Harrow, about 40 km south of Windsor, noticed a concerning growth behind her eye while doing an examinatio­n. He encouraged her to see a doctor and get tested.

She credits him with discoverin­g an arachnoid cyst that was pushing on her brain. In June, she had surgery to drain the cyst.

“This guy saved my life because of his training and his skills,” Eppert said. “For the health of people in Ontario, it’s important optometry is funded properly so they can get the best possible service.”

“What you’re doing is you’re hurting the community and from what I’ve heard … it’s backfiring on you.”

PREMIER DOUG FORD

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