Delayed eye-specialist program begins in Dauphin, but limitations leave desperate patients out

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This article was published 04/04/2023 (1224 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A pilot project announced last summer to send eye specialists to Dauphin so patients don’t have to travel to Winnipeg for treatment began quietly Monday.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon, who has been absent from the legislature this week, tweeted Monday that the first ophthalmologist was on his way there.

“It was great to see retinal specialist, Dr. (Josh) Manusow and his team off to Dauphin this morning for the first of monthly trips to provide specialized eye care to 40 patients in the region and expanding up to 100 patients by year end,” the minister said on social media, along with photos of her and Manusow at the government air terminal.

In July, Gordon announced the project to have retinal specialists travel to Dauphin once a month to provide care for patients in the community and surrounding region.

The program will, in particular, benefit people who must travel to Winnipeg once a month for treatment, and reduce the additional expenses incurred by others required to see specialists in the city less frequently.

Retinal specialists diagnose and treat a variety of eye conditions, including age-related macular degeneration, hereditary diseases of the eye, diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachment and cancer. They also treat patients who have experienced severe eye trauma.

The provincial government covers the specialists’ travel costs and other expenses. Ashcroft Vision Care in Dauphin provides space to treat patients.

The program was expected to start in the fall, ratcheting up Chris Dunn’s anxiety level.

Dunn, 41, lives near Dauphin and is at risk of losing his vision from diabetic retinopathy. He requires an eye injection every two to three months, and was relieved when he heard a specialist would be in that city Monday.

He was not, however, among the patients treated Monday; he was told appointments would go to the specialist’s own patients in the Dauphin area.

“I was very, very surprised; I was floored, actually,” he told the Free Press, adding his specialist isn’t scheduled to be in Dauphin until October.

Dunn said he’s the primary caregiver for his ailing mother who suffers from seizures, and they aren’t able to travel to Winnipeg for him to receive his injections.

He said he’s hoping the pilot program will be revamped and expanded to help others needing treatment.

“They’re going to have to come a couple of times a month, there’s so many people out this way with different eye diseases,” he said. “Once a month by one doctor is not going to cut it.”

The province did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca