Patients and health care professionals are expressing outrage over a decision to transfer all cataract eye surgeries out of Richmond to Vancouver.
Richmond Hospital-based eye doctors and their patients learned about the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) switch last week, which will directly affect hundreds of mainly elderly people in the city with failing sight.
Without any consultation, VCH informed the three ophthalmologists at the hospital that cataract surgeries would, from Jan. 2, 2019, be carried out 14 kilometres away in purpose-built cataract procedure roomsat Mount St. Joseph’s Hospital in East Vancouver.
VCH told the Richmond News the move is being done to “create a better experience for patients and to free-up operating room time in Richmond for more appropriate surgical cases.”
However, with more than 500 people already on the waiting list in Richmond for the surgery – and another 1,306 on a similar list for Mount St. Joseph’s – it’s not clear to anyone on the front line how the decision will be good for patients.
“We’re all very frustrated. This concerns a very vulnerable portion of the community,” said one of the Richmond-based eye doctors, who asked not to be named.
“Most of the people that need this kind of surgery are in their elderly years and, as such, have underlying health conditions and barriers to getting around, especially to Vancouver for appointments and surgeries.
“My guess is it’s a centralization model. But I’m not aware of any more resources being made available at Mount St. Jospeh’s, so I’m not sure how this is going to help?”
The doctor said his patients’ eyesights are “worsening all the time.”
“Some of them have family members that could drive them to Vancouver, but many do not. It’s going to be a real problem for our patients.”
The doctor said he heard a rumour a few weeks ago but that none of his colleagues have been “given any direction at all on what to tell people; there’s been absolutely no consultation.
“They should have at least gone through the waiting list here first. This was totally out of the blue and shows a complete disregard for the patients’ wellbeing.”
The doctor added that a small minority of his patients just want to get the surgery done, no matter where it is.
“Those are the ones with family support,” he said.
“But I’d say 80 to 90 per cent want their surgery in Richmond. They pay their taxes in Richmond, they think they’re entitled to have surgery such as this carried out here.
“Richmond is only going to get bigger and bigger. And if you live long enough, you’re likely going to need cataract surgery at least once, maybe twice.”
UPON hearing of the move, a whole host of Richmondites affected contacted the Richmond News to vent their feelings.
Manuel Pinto, 75, who was a realtor for 33 years, has been on the waiting list for cataract surgery since March.
He first noticed his right eye getting blurry last year, and it’s been getting worse as the months progress.
“I was shocked,” Pinto said of the news. “I don’t understand why the hospital would do this with so many older people living in Richmond and it being so big. I was initially told six months to a year (to wait) and I said ‘OK.’
“I can still drive right now, but who knows for how much longer.”
Bernice Zietlow, who’s in her 80s, hasn’t had cataract surgery yet, but she knows she will need it very soon.
“About a year ago, I started to get some blurriness in my left eye. But when I close one eye, the other goes blurry,” said Zietlow, who has been seeing one of the eye doctors at Richmond Hospital.
“But it’s the others I worry about. I volunteer at Gilmore Gardens and there are many people there who would have to take a cab all the way there and back. I can’t understand why (VCH) would do this.”
Welshman Alan Rees, a retired journeyman glazier who will turn 70 next month, has worked and lived all over the world -- including London, the U.S. and Australia – before calling Richmond home more than 30 years ago.
“Sooner or later, I’m going to need cataract surgery,” said Rees, another patient of a Richmond Hospital eye doctor.
“Richmond has changed so much since I moved here,” said Rees, who has had laser eye surgery for damage to his retina.
“We need to be able to take care of people right here in Richmond. It needs to be addressed to be able to cater to the needs of the community. It should be made a priority.
“The people of Richmond deserve to be taken care of properly. There is money being spent on much less important things.”
Dewey Lodewyk, 76, is on the waiting list and is aghast at the thought of his place in line being thrown into the pot with the 1,306 waiting at Mount St. Joseph’s.
“It’s terrible. We have a hospital here; we seem to get the short end of the stick all time,” said Lodewyk, a retired Air Canada customer service agent, whose eyesight started to go in the “last year or two.”
“We’ve lived here for 15 years and the city is growing all the time. It would be a real problem for me (getting to Vancouver appointments), as my wife doesn’t like driving that much, especially to Vancouver.”
A spokesperson for VCH told the News that the ophthalmologists who are currently performing cataract surgeries at Richmond Hospital also perform cataract surgeries at Mount Saint Joseph’s.
“They will be able to offer pre- and post- surgical care at their offices in Richmond,” said the spokesperson via email.
No response was given to the News’ questions on whether or not any consultation took place with any stakeholders, such as doctors or patients, with regard to the change.
And it wasn't made clear how the waiting lists at the two hospitals would be merged.
According to the BC Surgery Wait List website, there are 21,784 people across B.C. waiting for cataract surgery.
