Province must act to prevent Ontarians’ eye problems

Re Optometrists reject offer as public relations stunt, Oct. 2

After 30 years of underfunding, Ontario’s optometrists stopped performing OHIP-covered exams in September. With no optometrists available to determine which problems are serious, patients have been sent to ERs around the province where they are seen by ER MDs then referred to the eye surgeon on call.

I am an eye surgeon, not an optometrist, and the volume of referrals I receive from ERs has increased dramatically.

Patients with chronic problems who cannot access their optometrists are also looking to my office for assessment.

Each major political party has failed to fix this problem. The fact that there has not yet been a patient disaster does not mean that we can do without optometrists; it means that others are working overtime to cover for a broken system, which cannot go on forever. The Minister of Health must fix this problem before bad things happen to the eyes of Ontario patients.

Dr. Tim Hillson, Orillia, Ont.