‘I could go completely blind’: delay in promised rural retinal specialist program pressures patient

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This article was published 07/03/2023 (999 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A rural Manitoba man says he is at risk of going blind because a retina specialist pilot project promised by the Stefanson government to begin last fall in Dauphin still has not started.

Chris Dunn, 41, suffers from diabetic retinopathy, a condition for which he is to get a medical injection into his eye every two or three months.

Dunn, who lives about 15 minutes north of Dauphin, became unemployed during the COVID-19 pandemic and is the primary caregiver for his mother, who has seizures.

“I don’t have enough money for gas for the four-hour drive to Winnipeg and four hours back,” he said in an interview. “It isn’t a big deal for me to go to Dauphin, but going to Winnipeg is impossible.

“If I don’t get treatment, in 12 to 18 months, I could go completely blind.”

Dunn said his last eye injection was about six months ago, and he had been looking forward to getting the next one in Dauphin.

In July, Health Minister Audrey Gordon announced a one-year pilot project to bring retinal specialists to Dauphin, starting in fall 2022.

At the time, Gordon said it would “help reduce out-of-pocket expenses for these patients and families, strengthen health care in the region and ensure the same level of care, closer to home.”

Not only had a space been found in Dauphin to accommodate the program (at Ashcroft Vision Care) but also a team of specialists, including Dr. Josh Manusow, a vitreoretinal surgeon in the University of Manitoba’s department of opthamology.

“We are excited to travel to Dauphin to provide care to patients that currently must travel to Winnipeg regularly and look forward to serve 60 to 80 patients each visit when the project begins this fall,” Manusow told media in July.

However, Dunn and other local patients are still waiting.

“I even spoke to the Ashcroft and they said the office space for the project has been available for some time and they were waiting. They said they heard the funding was not in place,” he said.

A spokesperson for Ashcroft Vision Care did not return a call. A spokesman for the University of Manitoba medical school could not be reached for comment.

A provincial government spokesman said Tuesday the program is now scheduled to start next month.

“The province is enthusiastic about launching this initiative, but the co-operation and participation of the retinal specialists that provide the service is key to the program launch,” the spokesman said.

On Monday, during question period, NDP Leader Wab Kinew accused the Tory government of announcing a promised initiative “that apparently they had no intention of keeping.”

Kinew asked Premier Heather Stefanson: “Why did this government break this promise to the people of Manitoba and when will Mr. Dunn be able to get the care he needs?”

In response, Stefanson said the government is working to bring health-care services closer to home for all Manitobans in rural and remote areas. She then accused Kinew of playing politics with the issue.

“If he has a case that he really wants to get to the bottom of this, he can pick up the phone and call the minister of health,” she said.

“There is no need to bring something like this to the chamber floor of the Manitoba legislature unless the leader of the Opposition just wants to play politics with health care in Manitoba. That is not the way we want to deliver health-care services to Manitobans.”

However, Dunn said he was pleased his situation was brought up at the legislature because, weeks after he wrote to both the premier and health minister, he has only received a letter last month, saying someone would get back to him.

“This is a serious issue. The pilot project would have been a blessing if it has started last fall or even in March. I assume the funding was put together in last year’s budget and now we have this year’s budget (tabled Tuesday),” Dunn said.

“It’s up in the air.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca